Court Opinion

ID: 9431340
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:32:04.584545+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:27.982717
License: Public Domain

Justice Kennedy,
with whom Justice Scalia joins, concurring.
It is no bold step to conclude, as the Court does, that the evidence should have been admitted, for respondent’s unprovoked flight gave the police ample cause to stop him. The Court instead concentrates on the significance of the chase; and as to that it is fair to interpret its opinion as finding no more than an absence of-improper conduct. We would do well to add that, barring the need to inquire about hot pur*577suit, which is not at issue here, neither “chase” nor “investigative pursuit” need be included in the lexicon of the Fourth Amendment.
A Fourth Amendment seizure occurs when an individual remains in the control of law enforcement officials because he reasonably believes, on the basis of their conduct toward him, that he is not free to go. See, e. g., INS v. Delgado, 466 U. S. 210, 215 (1984); United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U. S. 544, 554 (1980) (opinion of Stewart, J.). The case before us presented an opportunity to consider whether even an unmistakable show of authority can result in the seizure of a person who attempts to elude apprehension and who discloses contraband or other incriminating evidence before he is ultimately detained. It is at least plausible to say that whether or not the officers’ conduct communicates to a person a reasonable belief that they intend to apprehend him, such conduct does not implicate Fourth Amendment protections until it achieves a restraining effect. The Court’s opinion does not foreclose this holding, and I concur.