Terry vs. Ohio Facts 1. Petitioner Terry convicted of carrying concealed weapon 2. Terrys apprehension a.

. Officer McFadden patrolling the street/downtown b. Terry and his companion, Chilton caught McFaddens attention i. Unable to say precisely what first drew his eyes to them ii. Developed routine habits of observation over the years (work) c. Terry & Chiltons suspicious moves i. Walked towards a store, stared at the store window, conversed with another person ii. Routine repeated a number of times d. Officer suspected that Terry might be up to something & they may have a gun decided that the situation was ripe for direct action e. Officer approached Terry i. Identified himself as a police officer ii. Asked their names response: mumbled something f. Officer grabbed Terry position that they were facing each other officer patted down the outside of Terrys clothing i. He completely removed Terrys overcoat, removed a revolver from the pocket ii. Ordered all 3 men to face the wall with their hands raised iii. Patted down outside clothing of Chilton & other man discovered another revolver from Chilton; none from the other man iv. Claims that he never placed his hands beneath their outer garments g. Officer asked store owner to call the police accused were formally charged 3. Trial court officer had probable cause to arrest the 3 men before he patted them down for weapons a. Officer had the right to pat down the outer garment b. Distinguished between an investigatory stop and an arrest, and between frisk of outer clothing for weapons and a full-blown search for evidence of crime i. Frisk essential to performance of duty c. Affirmed by CA 4. Issues to be resolved a. When is a person seized and what constitutes a search? b. What is reasonable? c. The stop and frisk of Terry was very reasonable d. The sole justification for the search is protection of the officer and public Issue: Whether in all the circumstances of the on-the-street encounter, his right to personal security was violated by an unreasonable search & seizure 1. Seize & search happened a. Agreed that Officer seized Terry and subjected him to a search when he took hold of him and patted down the outer surfaces of his clothing 2. Rejected the idea that the 4th amendment does not limit the actions of a police officer; considerations a. Government interest

i. Justifies intrusion ii. Case at bar: crime prevention & detection 1. Officer discharged legitimate investigative function when he decided to approach Terry & companions b. Police must able to point to specific & articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant the intrusion i. Test (for reasonable warrantless search): would the facts available to the officer at the moment of the seizure or the search warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that the action taken was appropriate? ii. case at bar: enough facts 1. it would have been poor police work indeed for an officer of 30 years experience in the detection of thievery from stores in this same neighbourhood to have failed to investigate this behaviour further Issue: Whether there was justification for McFaddens invasion of Terrys personal security by searching him for weapons in the course of investigation - Yes 1. Petitioner argues a. Unreasonable for police to search until such time as the situation evolves to a point where there is probable cause to make an arrest 2. officer justified in believing that the suspicious individual is armed & presently dangerous to the officer or to the others a. unreasonable to deny the officer the power to take necessary measures to determine whether the person is in fact carrying a weapon; in order to neutralize the threat of physical harm b. officer need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed c. what is relevant: specific reasonable inferences which he is entitled to draw from the facts in light of his experience Issue: WON the search is reasonable 1. petitioners obviously contemplating on robbery 2. officer had to make a quick decision as to how to protect himself and others from possible danger, and took limited steps to do so 3. any need to prevent the disappearance or destruction of evidence of crime NOT always a justification of search without warrant; depends on circumstances a. case at bar: sole justification of search w/o warrant protection of the officer & others nearby i. action done must be confined in scope to an intrusion reasonable designed to discover unlawful arms for the assault of the officer ii. patting down the outer garment reasonable step Conclusion: admissible evidence; reasonable search stop & frisk Concurring J. White 1. "There is nothing in the Constitution which prevents a policeman from addressing questions to anyone on the streets. Absent special circumstances, the person approached may not be detained or frisked but may refuse to cooperate and go on his way. However, given the proper circumstances, such as those in this case, it seems to me the person may be briefly detained

against his will while pertinent questions are directed to him. Of course, the person stopped is not obliged to answer, answers may not be compelled, and refusal to answer furnishes no basis for an arrest, although it may alert the officer to the need for continued observation." Dissent J. Douglas 1. Mystery how the search & seizure can be constitutional 2. Court disclaims the existence of probable cause a. Probable cause for loitering, NOT for legal weapons 3. Court decision implies that a police has greater power to make a search & seizure, than a judge has to authorize such action a. If police is to have greater power must be decided upon by the people, not the Court