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Federal Court on search and seizure

Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2002 3:17 pm
by Alan K
This case involves a search and seizure and is a synopsis of the case.

Where the defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence relative to a firearm and any other items observed or seized during a May10, 2001 search and seizure, the Court (US District Court) found that his motion must be denied.

The Court stated: “I base this decision on findings (1) that a police officer acted lawfully in stopping the defendant’s vehicle based on a reasonable suspicion that a traffic violation has occurred (2) that the officer acted permissibly in demanding the defendant’s identification so that the officer could write the defendant a citation for not wearing a seat belt, and (3) that the warrantless arrest and subsequent search of the defendant were lawfully supported by the arresting officer’s reasonable reliance on the Commonwealth’s (Massachusetts) Warrant Management System. (United States v. Henderson, Wolf, J. (USDC) (Criminal No. 01-10264-MLW.

Even though a lot of the facts were omitted from this synopsis, you can educe an apparent formula used by the Court to test the action of the officer.
I see a lot of questions on police stops and search & seizure both in this and other forums.
This federal court case is a good outline for what is necessary to make a case free of first and second amendment issues, and support the ground rules for a justifiable stop, followed by a search and sezure.