Tyler Criminal Defense Lawyer Carlo D'Angelo
An officer's decision to detain a person must be based on more than just a hunch, according to the U.S. Supreme Court case of Terry v. Ohio. In that case, the Court held that the officer must have a "particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity." This means that the officer must be able to offer "some minimal level of objective justification for making the stop."
In United States v. Sokolow, the Supreme Court reiterated that an officer must have some objective manifestation that the person stopped is, or is about to be, engaged in criminal activity. This objective manifestation must be based on a totality of the circumstances and raise a suspicion that the particular individual being stopped is engaged in wrongdoing.
In evaluating whether reasonable particularized suspicion exists to conduct a Terry stop, two elements must be satisfied. First, the assessment must be based on a totality of the circumstances. Second, the circumstances together must raise a suspicion that the particular individual being stopped is engaged in wrongdoing.
