SAN DIEGO DISTRICT ATTORNEY The Fourth Amendment and ...

enforcement officers where none exists. Thus, the
determination of reasonable suspicion must be based on
commonsense judgments and inferences about human
behavior.” (Ibid., quoting Illinois v. Wardlow (2000) 528
U.S. 119, 124–125 [145 L. Ed. 2 nd 570].)
In People v. Letner and Tobin, supra, a majority of the
Supreme Court found that the unexplained driving at 40
mph in a 55 mph zone, indicating a possible DUI driver,
particularly when combined with the officer’s suspicions
that the car might be stolen when there were water beads on
it from a storm some hours earlier, indicating that it had not
been driven far, and when found in an area known for its
many thefts from the nearby car lots, justified an
investigative traffic stop.
Detention of a Victim or Witness:
While a victim or witness, as a general rule, may not be detained or
forced to cooperate in a police investigation, it is argued by some
that when the governmental need is strong and the intrusion upon
the victim or witness is minimal, a temporary stop or detention of
the victim or witness may be justifiable. (See Illinois v. Lidster
(2004) 540 U.S. 419 [157 L.Ed.2 nd 843]; vehicle check point used
to locate witnesses to a previous fatal hit and run.)
See also Metzker v. State (Ak 1990) 797 P.2 nd 1219; “It
appears the police are justified in stopping witnesses only
where exigent circumstances are present, such as where a
crime has recently been reported.”
Note: No case law yet upholds the transportation of a victim or
witness without that person’s consent.
Articulable Objective Suspicion: A detention, even if brief, is a
sufficiently significant restraint on personal liberty to require “objective
justification.” (Florida v. Royer (1983) 460 U.S. 491, 498 [75 L.Ed.2 nd
229, 236-237].)
Note: Reasons which an officer feels give him or her reasonable
suspicion to detain must be articulated, in detail, in an arrest report
and later recounted in courtroom testimony.
An officer’s inability to articulate those suspicious factors
that give rise to the need to stop and detain a suspect is one
© 2012 Robert C. Phillips. All rights reserved
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