Yes, the Philadelphia police can lie to you in some situations. A United States Supreme Court ruling in Frazier v. Cupp allowed police to use deception when getting a confession as long as they don’t commit entrapment. Entrapment is when police induce or encourage the commission of a crime to obtain evidence of that crime […]
Is Acting Nervous Probable Cause to Arrest Me?
Are you wondering if acting nervous is probable cause to arrest you? Check out the answer below: No, acting nervous is not probable cause to search you. Also, acting nervous alone does not give police reasonable suspicion to stop you or to frisk you. Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard requiring police to have certain […]
Dog Sniff During Traffic Stop Held Unconstitutional
The following story is one I wrote, which was originally published in the April 2015 edition of Upon Further Review, a publication of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Re-printed here with permission of the Philadelphia Bar Association Sit! Stay! Dog Sniff During Routine Traffic Stop Held Unconstitutional. Brad V. Shuttleworth, Esq. on 4/22/2015″Well, we’ll see how […]
PA Sup. Ct. Refutes Car Search During Illegal Detention
Just a week after the United States Supreme Court suppressed evidence discovered as a result of an dog sniff because police unjustifiably prolonged a traffic stop in Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. _ (Apr. 21, 2014) (see my April 26, 2015 blog post), the PA superior Court in Commonwealth v. Nguyen, 2015 PA Super. 98 […]
Nervousness, Reaching Justify Suspicion for Weapons Search
Criminal lawyers in Philadelphia need to be aware of cases where police claim their clients appeared nervous and made furtive movements. The latest case on this issue is Commonwealth v. Buchert, — A.3d —, 2013 WL 1499347 (Apr. 12, 2013) from the Pennsylvania Superior Court. In Buchert, the Court held that, during a nighttime car […]