Opinion ID: 2336279
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the stop and frisk

Text: The first issue to be addressed is a determination of when the seizure, or the stop, of Appellee occurred. A seizure requires an articulable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. The seizure of Appellee did not occur when the officers approached him. Baker v. Commonwealth, Ky., 5 S.W.3d 142, 145 (1999), citing Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1324, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983). Police officers are free to approach anyone in public areas for any reason. Officers are entitled to the same freedom of movement that the rest of society enjoys. Likewise, the seizure of Appellee did not occur when Officer Bloomfield requested him to remove his hands from his pockets, since the request was merely a safety precaution. Baker, supra, at 145. If Appellee had not agreed to remove his hands from his pockets and the officer had ordered that Appellee remove his hands, there would have been a seizure. Id. Consequently, the seizure of Appellee did not occur until Officer Bloomfield frisked him. When Officer Bloomfield seized Appellee, he had reasonable suspicion to believe that Appellee may be engaging in criminal activity. Appellee was in a high crime area. [1] He was present on the property of an apartment complex where a No Trespassing sign was posted. The officers did not recognize Appellee as a resident of the complex with which they were familiar. The officers approached Appellee, and he appeared to be startled. Appellee then attempted to turn and evade the officers by walking in the opposite direction. [2] Then, after Appellee took a few steps away from the officers, he instantly stopped. These facts justified the officers' belief that Appellee may have been engaging in criminal activity. The fact that Appellee took his hands out of his pockets and a bulge still remained in one pocket, gave rise to a reasonable belief that he may have been armed and dangerous. Under the totality of the circumstances, Officer Bloomfield was justified in stopping and frisking Appellee. This case resembles Simpson, supra . In Simpson , the Court of Appeals held that the officers did have reasonable and articulable suspicion to stop the defendant where the defendant was in a high crime area, was meandering back and forth, was looking at the officers when the officers drove by, and was trespassing and loitering. Id. at 688. The Court in Simpson further held that a person can be stopped and questioned even if the individual is only engaging in minor criminal activity such as trespassing and loitering. Id. at 688. The Court of Appeals distinguished this case from Simpson by noting that the officers did not know for sure whether Appellee was trespassing. Although there was a No Trespassing sign in the yard of the complex, the Court reasoned that the officers could not have known that Appellee was not a resident. However, the test for a Terry stop and frisk is not whether an officer can conclude that an individual is engaging in criminal activity, but rather whether the officer can articulate reasonable facts to suspect that criminal activity may be afoot and that the suspect may be armed and dangerous. Terry, supra, 392 U.S. at 30, 88 S.Ct. at 1884-1885 (emphasis added). The totality of the circumstances must be evaluated to determine the probability of criminal conduct, rather than the certainty. United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417-418, 101 S.Ct. 690, 695, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981). As the Supreme Court held in United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 1585, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989), the level of articulable suspicion necessary to justify a stop is considerably less than proof of wrongdoing by preponderance of the evidence. Since the yard of the apartment complex had a No Trespassing sign and the officers did not have any reason to believe that Appellee was a resident, reasonable facts existed for the police to conclude that he may be trespassing. The additional facts that Appellee was in a high crime area, appeared startled when he saw the officers, attempted to move away from them, and then stopped abruptly, created additional articulable facts for the officers to reasonably suspect that Appellee may be engaging in criminal activity. The fact that Appellee had a bulge in his pocket, even after he removed his hands, further justified the officers' concern that he might be armed and dangerous. Therefore, the officer did not violate Appellee's rights when he stopped and frisked him.