LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LAW - Essay Example Being suspicious of a person is reason enough to warrant the officer asking questions of the individual but searching violates the Constitution. Others cite the safety of the officer as reason enough to allow them to search anyone they deem to be acting in a suspicious manner and if something illegal is found, it should be admissible evidence in court. The Supreme Court overwhelmingly agreed with the latter opinion. A detective on duty in Cleveland saw two men walking back and forth in front of a store, staring in the store’s window then speaking with a third man. The men were observed repeating this action about two dozen times. The detective thought these men may be ‘casing’ the store and intended to rob it at a later time so he approached them, had them turn around, raise their hands and ‘patted them down.’ Two of the three were found carrying weapons, Terry and Chilton, who were arrested and charged with concealed weapons violations. The seemingly simple case that more likely would have been settled in a municipal court became a test of the U.S. Constitution. At the trial, the defense argued that the facts of the case did not satisfy the definition of probable cause therefore the weapons were illegally seized, a violation of the Fourth Amendment, and should not be allowed as evidence during the trial. Of course this would have lead to an immediate dismissal of the case. The prosecution countered that the detective was within his full legal right to ‘frisk’ the men, that the evidence satisfied the definition of reasonable cause and the officer’s safety was dependent on this interpretation of the law. The court decided that the officer did have reasonable cause to believe the suspects were armed and were within his legal right to search them. It also declared that stopping an individual for questioning did not require the level of probable cause that is needed prior to making an arrest,