Terry Stop Case

A Terry Stop is an act of the law enforcement officers/ police momentarily detain an individual under reasonable belief of involvement in criminal activity as derived from the case Terry V, Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) (Gardner & Anderson, 2015). The Supreme Court established that law enforcement officers may carry out a restricted search of the suspect’s outer clothes if there is reasonable suspicion that the individual may possess weapons that are dangerous. The bottom-line is to make such stops based on the fact the suspect is involved or is about to commit a crime as opposed to his past conduct/ record (Gardner & Anderson, 2015). Given contrabands, specific legal provisions allow for related seizures during a routine frisking exercise.

According to the plain view doctrine, an officer is allowed to seize contraband or evidence without a warrant, as long as they are lawfully present in an area protected by the 4th amendment (Gardner & Anderson, 2015). However, three provisions contained in the three-pong Horton test must be satisfied as follows;

• The law enforcement officer must be present at the scene of the observation in a

The extension of the plain view doctrine from the plain feel essence covers plain smell and plain hearing considerations that support the reasonable identification of contraband (Gardner & Anderson, 2015). The characteristics of the item/ contraband must be immediately apparent based on common definitions and quality. In the course of frisking, the officer may seize the objects known to be contraband from their exterior appearance or smell as discerned by the plain eye/ nose as long as the object lays exposed or is felt from the limited search