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Pretextual stop did not support a motion to suppress

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

While the court is convinced that the stop was pretextual but with a factual bases, the Fourth Amendment provides no protection. United States v. Kellam, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14164 (D. Del. February 26, 2008): In the Court's opinion, the vehicle being driven by the Government's Informant was stopped because the Task Force officers believed Mr. Kellam had engaged in some activity related to drug trafficking during the trip to New York. The Court is convinced that the violations asserted as grounds for the stop of the vehicle existed, but the vehicle was stopped so as to permit the officers to search the vehicle for evidence of drug trafficking offenses Mr. Kellam was suspected of committing. Because the existing case law does not allow the Court to consider subjective or pretextual reasons for a Terry stop, Mr...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 28, 2008 (boomark / email).