The Fourth Circuit recently decided a very interesting case with a lot of North Carolina connections. The case is United States v. Foster, and it's available here. The facts were as follows. A police officer in Henderson, North Carolina was eating lunch at a restaurant with his wife. As he left the restaurant, he saw the driver of a parked SUV speak, at which point another man -- the eventual defendant -- sat up in the passenger seat from a crouching position. The defendant then moved his arms in what the officer believed was a furtive manner, though he couldn't see the defendant's hands. The officer was familiar with the defendant and knew that he had been arrested previously for a drug-related crime, so the officer spoke briefly to him, and the defendant said that he was "just chilling." After watching the SUV from across the street for fifteen minutes, the officer conducted a Terry stop, based on "(1) his prior knowledge of Foster’s criminal record; (2) Foster’s sudden appearance from a crouched position in a parked [SUV], immediately after the driver had apparently said something to him after seeing the detective walking towards them; and (3) Foster’s frenzied arm movements, including the movement of his arms down toward the floor of the car [as the officer neared]." The Terry stop led to the discovery of drugs, and to federal charges in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The defendant moved to suppress, and when [...]
Faculty Coordinators
