SAN DIEGO DISTRICT ATTORNEY The Fourth Amendment and ...

of the more common causes of detentions being found to be
illegal.
A prosecutor’s failure to elicit a thorough description of all
the suspicious factors by asking the right questions is
another common cause.
A Hunch: An officer’s decision to detain cannot be predicated upon a
mere “hunch,” but must be based upon articulable facts describing
suspicious behavior which would distinguish the defendant from an
ordinary, law-abiding citizen. (Terry v. Ohio (1968) 392 U.S. 1, 27 [20
L.Ed.2 nd 889, 909].)
“A hunch may provide the basis for solid police work; it may
trigger an investigation that uncovers facts that establish
reasonable suspicion, probable cause, or even grounds for a
conviction. A hunch, however, is not a substitute for the necessary
specific, articulable facts required to justify a Fourth Amendment
intrusion.” (Italics added; People v. Pitts (2004) 117 Cal.App.4 th
881, 889; quoting United States v. Thomas (9 th Cir. 2000) 211
F.3 rd 1186, 1192.)
A stop and detention based upon stale information concerning a
threat, which itself was of questionable veracity, and with little if
anything in the way of suspicious circumstances to connect the
persons stopped to that threat, is illegal. (People v. Durazo (2004)
124 Cal.App.4 th 728: Threat was purportedly from Mexican gang
members, and defendant was a Mexican male who (with his
passenger) glanced at the victim’s apartment as he drove by four
days later where the officer admittedly was acting on his “gut
feeling” that defendant was involved.)
Seemingly innocuous behavior does not justify a detention of
suspected illegal aliens unless accompanied by some particularized
conduct that corroborates the officer’s suspicions. (United States
v. Manzo-Jurado (9 th Cir. 2006) 457 F.3 rd 928; standing around in
their own group, conversing in Spanish, watching a high school
football game.)
Observing defendant sitting in a parked motor vehicle late at night
near the exit to a 7-Eleven store parking lot, with the engine
running, despite prior knowledge of a string of recent robberies at
7-Elevens, held to be not sufficient to justify a detention and
patdown. (People v. Perrusquia (2007) 150 Cal.App.4 th 228.)
© 2012 Robert C. Phillips. All rights reserved
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