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W.D.Pa.: Direction to get back into a vehicle is not a seizure

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Directing the defendant who got out of his vehicle to get back in was not a seizure and did not violate the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Wolford, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 114800 (W.D. Pa. October 26, 2010)*: We find that the rationale underlying the above-listed decisions is equally applicable to our scenario where it was the driver (as opposed to the passenger) that had exited a validly stopped vehicle. The strong public interest in officer safety outweighs Mr. Wolford's liberty interest, especially since Mr. Wolford had not only exited his van upon being stopped, but was walking away from the police officers at the time he was told to return to his vehicle. As such, we find that Officer Caterino's order to Mr. Wolford that he get back into his van after he had exited it did not constitute an illegal seizure that violated Mr...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 01, 2010 (boomark / email).