Opinion ID: 1379698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: davis and hayden

Text: Two police officers pulled into the parking lot at Lakeshore Village Apartments to conduct a premise check. The officers noticed a group of about 10 young people standing in the parking lot. The officers testified that they did not immediately recognize anyone in the group as being one of the 500 or so residents of the complex. Therefore, the officers decided to confront them to find out if they lived there. The 10 people started to walk away, and the officers ordered them to stop. At that point those 10 people were seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. State v. Friederick, 34 Wn. App. 537, 541, 663 P.2d 122 (1983). The fact that Davis and Hayden then ran is irrelevant to the analysis of whether the initial stop was justified. The issue is whether the initial order to stop was reasonable. The majority cites the No Loitering signs, the fact that the officers did not recognize Davis and Hayden, and the fact that Davis and Hayden ran as factors that justify the stop. For the reasons discussed above in the Little portion of this opinion, the fact that there were No Loitering signs is irrelevant. Additionally, appellants' decision to run cannot be used to justify the initial stop, since they ran after the order to stop. That leaves only the fact that the officers did not recognize Davis and Hayden as possible justification for the initial stop. That factor does not justify the stop. Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47, 61 L.Ed.2d 357, 99 S.Ct. 2637 (1979). In Brown v. Texas, supra , police saw a man in an alley known as a hangout for drug dealers. The officers did not recognize the man as living in the neighborhood, so they decided to stop him. The Supreme Court said those were not sufficient grounds to justify the stop. 443 U.S. at 52. It is not enough that the person stopped is a stranger in the area, even when the area is one of high crime activity. There still must be reasonable suspicion, based on objective facts that the person stopped is engaged in criminal activity. 443 U.S. at 51. There simply is no such reasonable suspicion in Davis and Hayden's cases. Under Terry the initial order to stop must be justified by reasonable and articulable suspicion that the appellants were engaged in criminal activity. Under the totality of circumstances approach mandated by the United States Supreme Court, it is clear that the initial stop of Davis and Hayden was unjustified, and therefore was unreasonable. The only circumstance that the officers considered was that they did not immediately recognize Davis and Hayden. That factor cannot justify a Terry stop. Since the officers had no reasonable and articulable suspicion to stop Davis and Hayden in the first place, their decision to run cannot be construed as obstruction. Appellants' convictions should be reversed. The police conduct which this court approves today is ripe for abuse. The Seattle Police Department's tactic of stopping and arresting young black males on Seattle Housing Project grounds, however well intentioned, has the potential for harassment. Amicus Curiae on behalf of Seattle-King County Public Defender Association reports that most of the cases against these juveniles are dismissed before trial. Brief of Amicus Curiae, at 11. Some individuals are cited for criminal trespass multiple times without ever being convicted. Brief of Amicus Curiae, at 12. It is evident that the criminal trespass statute and the obstruction of a police officer statute are being used as antiloitering devices. The officer who arrested Little testified that he suspected Little of criminal trespass because he was loitering in the area. Report of Proceedings (Little), at 14. He further testified: [I]n one of those areas where the city has an agreement with the manager or owners of the building to have people not loiter in those areas, an officer will speak to those individuals and advise them that there is an Ordinance prohibiting them from loitering in the area.... Report of Proceedings (Little), at 16. Even the prosecutor seems to believe that the criminal trespassing statute is an antiloitering device, calling it in the brief a loitering ordinance. Brief of Respondent (Little), at 13. As discussed above, there is no ordinance prohibiting mere loitering, and the private agreement between the managers of the complex and the police cannot create a law where one does not exist. The court's holding today gives police unfettered discretion to stop someone, even without reasonable suspicion that the person is engaged in criminal activity. The court has completely cut the Fourth Amendment's proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures from its moorings, an action which this court does not have the power to take. I do not discount the severity of the drug- and gang-related activity in today's society, but court sanctioned violation of constitutional rights is not an appropriate method of combating the problem. We must not cast aside constitutional protections and ignore individual rights in our attempts to combat crime. The convictions should be reversed. SMITH, J., concurs with UTTER, J. Reconsideration denied October 2, 1991.