2D CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS. JULY 2020
RACE IS NOT A REASON TO DETAIN A PERSON
Every once and awhile law enforcement has to be reminded that a person’s race is not a reason to stop a person. This is one of those cases.
The Second Circuit suppressed statements made and narcotics discovered during a search incident to an arrest.
The court held that the officers lacked an objectively reasonable belief of legal wrongdoing to justify stopping the defendant. The officers had stopped defendant on the basis of a photograph that provided little meaningful identifying information to the police besides the race of a suspect. Consequently, the police lacked specific facts giving rise to a reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing.
The court further held that the illegality of the stop was not irrelevant just because the officers’ subsequently discovered an unrelated arrest warrant for the defendant. The search of the defendant yielding the narcotics and statements at issue was directly the result of the impermissible stop. Any suspicion that the officers may have had would instantly have faded when the officers saw the defendant and could see up close that he did not resemble the photographed suspect; the subsequent search for outstanding warrants was thus purposeful and flagrant conduct. The Evidence should have been SUPPRESSED and cannot be used against the defendant.