Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 31
person for weapons or contraband (a Terry Stop, discussed below).
What does this murky concept mean? It is a very low standard
of proof, and requires a minimal level of objective evidence.
Reasonable suspicion occurs when a police officer has “specific
articulable facts that, when combined with rational inferences from
those facts, would lead him to reasonably suspect that a person has
engaged or is (or soon to be) engaging in criminal activity.” York
v. State, 342 S.W.3d 528, 536 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011). Reasonable
suspicion cannot be based on a mere hunch or guess. Unfortunately,
the facts and reasons can be subject to interpretation, and the U.S.
Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals have
found reasonable suspicion from conduct that is as consistent
with innocent activity as it is with criminal activity. For example,
reasonable suspicion can come from your car being too clean, being
too dirty, driving under the speed limit, or driving the exact speed
limit, depending on the situational factors.
TERRY v. OHIO, 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
THE FACTS
John Terry was stopped and frisked by a veteran police officer
when the officer spotted Terry and another man repeatedly
walking up and down a street and peering into store windows.
During the search, the officer found a concealed handgun in
Terry’s possession, which was a violation of Ohio law. The officer
testified that he conducted the frisk because he suspected the
men were “casing” a store for a potential robbery.
THE LEGAL HOLDING
The Supreme Court held that an officer may stop a suspect and
perform a brief search for weapons when he has a reasonable belief
that the person may be engaging in criminal activity and is potentially
armed. This ruling made history by providing the government an
avenue to search on a standard less than probable cause.
20 | CHAPTER TWO
