Court: If you start running away before the plainclothes cops get out of their car, they can infer you're up to something
A federal appeals court ruled today Suffolk County prosecutors can use a gun seized from a man who ran away from cops on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan as evidence against him.
Gregory Wright was arrested on Blue Hill Avenue on Nov. 8, 2004 and charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a gun after officers found one under his sweater.
Wright pleaded guilty, but then appealed. Wright said the gun should be thrown out as evidence, arguing that just because he leaned forward in his car as if to "make" or ID a car as an undercover cop car and just because he immediately got out of his car and began running and just because he began clutching his sweater as if he had a gun there does not mean police had enough reason to chase after and search him.
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit disagreed on two of his three points, ruling that leaning forward in his car and then running away were sufficient evidence for a reasonable, trained officer to suspect something was "afoot." The court referenced an earlier decision in which a suspect was heard uttering "Oh, shit" after discovering men nearby were cops:
While less colorful than the expression "Oh, shit," the timing of Wright's conduct in quickly exiting the car after leaning forward would permit a reasonable officer to infer that Wright "made" the lead car as a police car.
However, the court ruled clutching at his pocket was not, by itself, enough evidence to warrant a chase, because there are other things somebody might have in a pocket besides a gun - such as keys. But given the other evidence:
We conclude, based upon our review of the record, that Wright's actions were sufficiently ambiguous as to whether there was criminal activity afoot to justify the stop in this case.
