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OR: 911 call did not justify detaining caller

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

911 call alone did not justify the officer in detaining the caller. State v. Fair, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 50 (January 27, 2010): In sum, the test for determining whether a contact exceeded mere conversation is whether the officer engaged "in conduct significantly beyond that accepted in ordinary social intercourse." [Holmes] The "mere encounters" in Holmes and the cases underlying it occurred in streets or other public places. There is a significant difference between the typical circumstances of a police officer approaching a person on a public street--for example, by flagging down a motorist in order to conduct a brief exchange of information, as was the case in Holmes, Gerrish, and McFarland--and a police officer going to the door of a person's home, ordering the person out of the home, and instructing the person to remain with the police officer, which is what occurred in this case...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 30, 2010 (boomark / email).