Opinion ID: 848654
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Terry v. Ohio

Text: Traffic stops are subject to the test established by the United States Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). According to Terry, an officer's investigation of a traffic stop must be reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place. Id. A defendant may not be detained even momentarily without reasonable, objective grounds for doing so. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 498, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983). The scope of the detention must be carefully tailored to the justification for the stop. Id. at 500, 103 S.Ct. 1319. Considering the totality of the circumstances, I would find that the officer's questioning in this case exceeded the permissible legal scope of inquiry regarding a speeding offense. It was not reasonably related to defendant's violation of the speed limit. Furthermore, I believe that the answers to the officer's questions did not give rise to an articulable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot.