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CA4: Being under prior investigation for drugs adds nothing to reasonable suspicion

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant’s actions when seen in a stopped car did not amount to suspicious circumstances. The officer’s learning that defendant was under investigation for drug trafficking did not lessen his Fourth Amendment rights, and it added nothing to the reasonable suspicion calculus. United States v. Foster, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 3939 (4th Cir. March 2, 2011): The Government then points to Detective Ragland’s conversation with Sergeant Darnell, which seemed to confirm that Foster was under investigation for drug trafficking, to show that a reasonable officer would have had some grounds to believe that Foster was engaged in drug activity. However, a person’s Fourth Amendment rights cannot be lessened simply because he or she is “under investigation” by the police...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 05, 2011 (boomark / email).