State v. Hairston

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's motion to suppress a handgun and other evidence obtained during a Terry stop, holding that the stop did not violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.After hearing the sound of gunshots, two police officers drove to the area where the shots seemed to be coming from. With their guns drawn, the officers detained Defendant, the only person in the area. The officers patted Defendant down and retrieved a handgun from his jacket. Defendant was charged with carrying a concealed weapon. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the officers lacked reasonable suspicion to detain him. The trial court denied the motion to suppress. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the officers had reasonable suspicion to perform an investigative stop. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that, based on the totality of the circumstances, the police officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Defendant and did not convert the stop into an arrest by approaching Defendant with their weapons drawn. View "State v. Hairston" on Justia Law