Com. v. Thibeau
| Decision Date | 17 December 1981 |
| Citation | 429 N.E.2d 1009,384 Mass. 762 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH v. Eugene C. THIBEAU. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
Robert J. Doyle, Oakton, for defendant.
Peter Grabler, Legal Asst. to the Dist. Atty., Needham (Michael J. Traft & James M. Lynch, Asst. Dist. Attys., with him), for the Commonwealth.
Before HENNESSEY, C.J., and WILKINS, LIACOS, NOLAN and LYNCH, JJ.
We consider here the constitutionality of a warrantless search of a bicyclist. The defendant was convicted of unauthorized possession of a controlled substance (phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP or angel dust) with intent to distribute. The defendant appeals, questioning the denial of his motion to suppress the PCP found on him. The Appeals Court, with one judge dissenting, affirmed the judgment. Commonwealth v. Thibeau, --- Mass. ---, Mass.App.Ct.Adv.Sh. (1981) 764, 418 N.E.2d 1268. Because the police officer was not justified in stopping the defendant, we reverse.
The defendant was riding a bicycle down the middle of Center Street in Jamaica Plain around 10 P.M. on August 31, 1979. A marked police car, followed by an unmarked one, pulled up beside him. After looking toward the marked cruiser on his right, the defendant turned sharply to his left and pedalled down St. John Street. The officer in the unmarked car pursued him, siren blaring. For some 200 to 250 yards, the officer was unable to maneuver past the defendant, who alternately slowed and sped up on the bicycle. When finally able to pull alongside the defendant, the officer reached out and grabbed the defendant, forcing him and the bicycle to the sidewalk. He threw the defendant across the hood of the cruiser, and then turned him around so the two were facing. The officer noticed three manila-type change envelopes protruding from one of the defendant's pockets. Recognizing these as commonly used to package drugs, the officer seized them and six others he found in a search of the defendant. The envelopes contained an herb laced with PCP.
A police officer may stop a person for a threshold inquiry where the officer has reasonable ground to suspect him of criminal activity. See Commonwealth v. Ferrara, 376 Mass. 502, 504, 381 N.E.2d 141 (1978). His suspicion must "be based on specific and articulable facts and the specific reasonable inferences which follow from such facts in light of the officer's experience." Commonwealth v. Silva, 366 Mass. 402, 406, 318 N.E.2d 895 (1974). The Commonwealth offers the following facts, upon which the trial judge could have relied, to justify the stop: the defendant was riding a bicycle; the officer, in his five years of narcotics law enforcement, recognized an increasing use of bicycles to transport illegal drugs; the defendant made a sudden left turn down St. John Street; and he fled when pursued. We hold as a matter of law that these facts are insufficient to provide reasonable ground for a stop.
The facts and inferences underlying the officer's suspicion must be viewed as a whole when assessing the reasonableness of his acts. United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417-418, 101 S.Ct. 690, 694-695, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981). However, the defendant's flight from the officer's pursuit cannot be considered for this purpose. Stops provoke constitutional scrutiny because they encumber one's freedom of movement. Pursuit that appears designed to effect a stop is no less intrusive than a stop itself. In other words, the officer's right to pursue when a stop appears imminent can be no broader than his right to stop. Thus, his suspicion must be reasonable before the pursuit begins. Were the rule otherwise, the police could turn a hunch into a reasonable suspicion by inducing the conduct justifying the suspicion. For present purposes, a stop starts when pursuit begins. See State v. Saia, 302 So.2d 869, 873 (La.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 1008, 95 S.Ct. 1454, 43 L.Ed.2d 767 (1975).
Thus, the reasonableness of the officer's suspicion must be assessed on the basis...
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