People v. Francois

Because I believe that the police forcibly stopped and detained the defendant without a reasonable suspicion that the defendant had committed or was about to commit an offense, I dissent. Initially, I agree with the motion court and the majority that police had a founded suspicion of criminality based on the defendant’s furtive behavior at the MetroCard machine. In my view, this founded suspicion merely allowed the police to pursue a common-law right to inquire what the defendant was doing at the MetroCard machine. (People v De Bour, 40 NY2d 210, 223-224 [1976].)

Where I depart from the…