Opinion

State v. Littleberry

  • 511 So. 2d 1229
  • 1987 La. App. LEXIS 10009
Court
Louisiana Court of Appeal
Filed
Aug 19, 1987
Status
Published
Author
Sexton
On the bench
Assigns, Hall, Jones, Reasons, Sexton
Cited by
5 cases
Authority
More cited than 26.5%

The opinion

SEXTON, Judge,

concurring.

I file this concurrence to mark the similarity in the facts of the instant case to those in State v. Ryan, 358 So.2d 1274 (La.1978), and State v. Chopin, 372 So.2d 1222 (La.1979). All three seem remarkably similar to me. However, in Ryan the seizure was allowed but it was suppressed in Chopin . In the instant case, the officer observed the male defendant walking down the road late on a cool night with what appeared to be a woman’s purse. His interest aroused, he turned his vehicle around. He then observed the defendant to exit the ditch beside the road although there was no other traffic to cause him to be there. More importantly, he did not still have the bag.

Police officers may approach citizens without probable cause to arrest or reasonable cause to detain (just as any other person) as long as their conduct is not threatening or coercive to the extent that it amounts to an intrusion upon a constitutionally protected interest. United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544 , 100 S.Ct. 1870 , 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980); State v. Shy, 373 So.2d 145 (La.1979).

The turning of his vehicle by the officer cannot be said to be threatening or coer *1234 cive. Thus, the seizure of the abandoned bag is valid.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.