Opinion ID: 1737008
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether There Was An Arrest Or A Stop.

Text: The distinction between an arrest and a stop is crucial in many cases, for an arrest can be made only on probable cause, while a stop is proper under the more relaxed reasonable suspicion standards of Terry. It is possible only to sketch some of the main features that demarcate the two types of intrusions. In Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200,92 S.Ct. 2248, 60 L.Ed.2d 824 (1979), the high court found a stop for questioning indistinguishable from a traditional arrest because the suspect was not questioned briefly where he was, was transported to the police station, was never informed he was free to go and, in fact, would have been restrained had he tried to leave. Among the circumstances other courts have considered important to classifying the intrusion as either an arrest or a stop are: the officer's intent in stopping the citizen; the impression conveyed to the citizen as to whether he was in custody or only briefly detained for questioning; the length of the stop; the questions, if any, asked; the extent of the search, if any, made; and the amount of force, if any, used to make the stop. See, e.g., U.S. v. White, 648 F.2d 29, 34 (D.C.Cir.1981). Reviewing the facts of the present case in light of these considerations, we conclude that Flowers was subjected to an investigatory stop, not an arrest, before he was removed from the automobile and arrested for possession of marijuana. The officer used no weapon or physical force to restrain the defendant, but merely turned on his bar light and asked to see his driver's license police conduct which does not normally signify or inevitably lead to an arrest. The officer did not perform a weapons search or even ask the defendant to leave the automobile before sighting the marijuana. There is no indication that the officer intended to do anything other than identify the defendant and briefly question him where he was. [2] Nor does the record suggest that a refusal to answer questions or an attempt to leave would have led to restraint or prolonged detention. On the contrary, prior to his arrest for possession of marijuana, the defendant was subjected to only a very brief detention without a search during which he was asked only for his operator's license.