Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Florida v. J.L. case brief

Florida v. J.L. case brief summary
529 U.S. 266 (2000)

CASE SYNOPSIS
The Court granted certiorari to review a judgment of the Supreme Court of Florida to decide whether an anonymous tip that respondent was carrying a gun was, without more, sufficient to justify a police officer's stop and frisk of respondent.

CASE FACTS
The court affirmed a judgment holding that a Terry "stop and frisk" search of respondent based only on an anonymous tip was invalid under U.S. Constitutional Amendment IV. Respondent was searched after an anonymous caller reported to the police that a young black male standing at a particular bus stop and wearing a plaid shirt was carrying a gun.

DISCUSSION
  • The court held that an anonymous tip that a person was carrying a gun was, without more, insufficient to justify a police officer's stop and frisk of that person. 
  • The tip pointing to respondent lacked the moderate indicia of reliability necessary because the call provided no predictive information to enable the police to test the informant's knowledge or credibility. 
  • Further, the accurate description of respondent's appearance was not enough since the reasonable suspicion at issue required that the tip be reliable in its assertion of illegality, not just in its tendency to identify a determinate person. 
  • Finally, the court declined to modify the Terry standard to license a "firearm exception" since it roved too far from the court's established reliability analysis.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed a judgment holding that a Terry "stop and frisk" search of respondent based only on an anonymous tip was constitutionally invalid since an anonymous tip that a person was carrying a gun was, without more, insufficient to justify a police officer's stop and frisk of that person.



Recommended Supplements for Criminal Procedure Criminal Procedure: Examples & Explanations, Sixth Edition
Emanuel Law Outline: Criminal Procedure

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