Court Opinion

ID: 9666158
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:06:48.599436+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:24.230188
License: Public Domain

ABRAHAMS ON, J.
(dissenting in part). Reading the record as a whole, I find that the police officers, prior to searching Penister in the tavern, did not have reasonable suspicion that he was one of the armed robbery suspects. Penister’s description had never been given in connection with the weapons complaint; Penister made no suspicious moves when the police entered; he was not known to the police as a dangerous felon; and the act of carrying a concealed weapon, of which Stacy alone was suspected, is not the kind of crime one might expect to be shared with an accomplice. On my reading of the record, Penister was searched because of his proximity to and similar appearance to Stacy and because a search of Stacy revealed a sawed-off shotgun. Under the circumstances, the officers did not have reasonable suspicion which justified the search of Penister, and therefore the search was impermissible.