# Flores v. United States

> District of Columbia Court of Appeals · October 26, 2000 · 769 A.2d 126

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9752240

## Case

- **Full name:** Jose M. FLORES (No. 97-CF-399), and Jose T. Marino (No. 97-CF-548), Appellants, v. UNITED STATES, Appellee
- **Court:** District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- **Decided:** October 26, 2000
- **Citations:** 769 A.2d 126; 2000 WL 33216022
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Wagner
- **Judges:** Wagner, Terry, King
- **Cited by:** 7 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9752240

## Opinion text

WAGNER, Chief Judge,
dissenting:
Assuming the validity of the investigatory stop under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 , 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), I cannot agree that the search and retrieval of the chapstick from Marino was justified under Terry principles. Police are not at liberty to conduct a search of a citizen for contraband every time they make an investigatory stop. Id. at 30 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 ; see Upshur v. United States, 716 A.2d 981, 983 (D.C.1998). “Before [a police officer] *133 places his hand on the person of a citizen in search of anything, he must have constitutionally adequate, reasonable grounds for doing so.” Upshur, 716 A.2d at 984 . The police did not have such grounds in this case. Here, the officer grabbed Mari-no and moved him back to search under his foot in order to recover the chapstick which he suspected might contain drugs. This was simply a stop and search for drugs. In my view, this was an inadequate basis for a seizure under Terry . See Terry, 392 U.S. at 29 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 ; Upshur, 716 A.2d at 983-84 . Therefore, I respectfully dissent from the opinion of the court.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9752240. Public record. Not legal advice.