Opinion ID: 203983
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Dubose's Seizure Was Justified by the Officers' Reasonable and Articulable Suspicion of Criminal Activity

Text: A law enforcement officer ordinarily may not stop someone and restrain his freedom to walk away unless the officer has a reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminal activity. Cook, 277 F.3d at 85 (internal quotations omitted). The seizure in this case was justified because, when Officer Canuto seized Dubose, he had a reasonable and articulable suspicion that Dubose had engaged in criminal activity. Officer Canuto testified that he became suspicious of Dubose because of the brief nature of his meeting with the occupants of the Camry, the fact that their meeting appeared to be pre-arranged, the fact that Dubose leaned his entire upper body into the car during the interaction, and that Dubose's conduct was similar to the conduct involved in other drug transactions in the area. While there may have been an entirely innocent explanation for Dubose's conduct, Officer Canuto is a six-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, and we owe a measure of deference to his expertise in interpreting the events in this case. See Ruidíaz, 529 F.3d at 29 (stating that the determination of reasonable suspicion requires a practical, commonsense determinationa determination that entails a measurable degree of deference to the perceptions of experienced law enforcement officers) (citation omitted); United States v. Trullo, 809 F.2d 108, 112 (1st Cir.1987) (deferring to police officer's conclusion that defendant was acting suspiciously when he sat in his car, engaged in a brief conversation with another individual who subsequently entered the defendant's car, then drove with this individual to a nearby deserted side street where they engaged in a further conversation, and the individual then exited the defendant's car and went back in the direction the defendant had just driven). [3] Further, Dubose's initial refusal to remove his hand from his pocket after having been ordered to do so provided additional substantiation of Officer Canuto's suspicion. There is no doubt that Officer Canuto had reasonable suspicion to seize Dubose.