Court Opinion

ID: 9538172
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:31:39.928914+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:57:36.215425
License: Public Domain

TANZER, J.,
concurring.
The record regarding the events at the tavern is deficient and provides no support for the detention and frisk. Therefore I would limit the justification for the search to the events on the parking lot. The expired license plate is itself an infraction and also indicates the possibility of a stolen car. For either reason or both, the police may reasonably inquire. The hand-in-boot incident, while ambiguous, may justify police wariness and the frisk was therefore appropriate.
The trial judge and my astute colleague consider the hand-in-boot transaction to be insufficient to cause the police to have concern for their safety. Acts which would in other situations appear innocent, e.g., reaching into one’s pocket as noted by the trial court, might nevertheless cause a reasonable officer to take special precaution while making inquiry of two people, in a tavern parking lot, late at night. In such a situation, I tend to give great latitude for prudence.
Therefore, I concur.