California v. Hodari D case brief

California v. Hodari D case brief summary
499 U.S. 621 (1991)

CASE SYNOPSIS

The State challenged a judgment of the California Supreme Court, which denied its application for review of the decision that found that defendant had been unreasonably seized under theFourth Amendment and that evidence of cocaine had to be suppressed as the fruit of that illegal seizure.

CASE FACTS
The court granted certiorari on the issue of whether defendant had been seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment at the time he dropped the cocaine when he saw an officer running towards him. The state appellate court held that defendant had been seized when he dropped the cocaine and that the evidence had to be suppressed. The state supreme court denied the State's application for review. The Court reversed and remanded the judgment.

DISCUSSION

• The Court held that with respect to a show of authority regarding the application of physical force, a seizure did not occur when the subject had not yielded. 
• Defendant's case did not involve the application of any physical force, and he was untouched at the time he discarded the cocaine. 
• The Court found that the test for a show of authority was an objective one and that defendant was not seized until he was tackled. 
• The cocaine abandoned while defendant was running was not the fruit of a seizure and not excludable.

CONCLUSION

The Court reversed the judgment that suppressed evidence of cocaine as the fruit of an illegal seizure. The Court held that defendant was not seized until he was tackled. The Court remanded the case.

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