Opinion ID: 2111897
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Constitutional Justification of the Search.

Text: Coleman contends that the officers' stopping the Buick in which he was a passenger violated the standard expressed in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), concerning an investigatory stop by police. Also, Coleman argues that the officers, after observing the Buick's erratic movement, including its crossing the centerline of 34th Avenue into the lane of traffic occupied by the police cruiser and nearly colliding with the cruiser, should have followed the vehicle for a short distance in order to determine whether possible criminal behavior was present. Brief for appellant at 11. However, Coleman does not point out what would have been legally significant if the car caravan continued on 34th Avenue with the officers' cruiser in pursuit of the Buick driven by Branch. In Terry v. Ohio, supra at 392 U.S. at 16, 88 S.Ct. at 1877, the U.S. Supreme Court stated: It is quite plain that the Fourth Amendment governs seizures of the person which do not eventuate in a trip to the station house and prosecution for crimearrests in traditional terminology. It must be recognized that whenever a police officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away, he has seized that person. Additionally, a police officer may in appropriate circumstances and in an appropriate manner approach a person for purposes of investigating possibly criminal behavior even though there is no probable cause to make an arrest. Terry v. Ohio, supra at 392 U.S. at 22, 88 S.Ct. at 1880. Thus, under Terry v. Ohio ... police can constitutionally stop and briefly detain a person for investigative purposes if the police have a reasonable suspicion, supported by articulable facts, that criminal activity exists, even if probable cause is lacking under the fourth amendment. State v. Staten, supra, 238 Neb. at 18, 469 N.W.2d at 116. Accord State v. Twohig, 238 Neb. 92, 469 N.W.2d 344 (1991). However, further discussion about a Terry stop is unnecessary to resolve the constitutional issue of the cocaine's admissibility in Coleman's trial.