By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//February 1, 2011//
Search and Seizure
Reasonable suspicion
Where police had a warrant to search a building, they had reasonable suspicion to detain a person who had just left it before they could execute the warrant.
“We find the reasoning in Swift instructive here. Officers could have detained Bullock at the scene of the traffic stop to maintain the status quo while they continued their brief investigation. They had the search warrant in hand and within about ten minutes of the stop, the search was underway. The length of Bullock’s detention was reasonable and the officers acted diligently. If Bullock had been detained at the scene without restraints, instead of placed in the squad car and taken to the residence, officers would still have found the marijuana and evidence of drug-dealing activity, thereby providing (if not bolstering) probable cause to arrest Bullock. Once arrested, a search of his person would have revealed the crack.”
“Accordingly, Bullock’s detention was reasonable under Terry; officers acted diligently in searching the residence to investigate their well-founded suspicions of his criminal activity.”
Affirmed.
10-2238 U.S. v. Bullock
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Springmann, J., Tinder, J.