Harris v. Commonwealth

In this appeal, we consider whether a law enforcement officer had a reasonable belief that an individual was trespassing on private property providing a sufficient basis for the officer to detain and conduct a “pat-down” search of the individual.

BACKGROUND

On the afternoon of March 20, 1997, Officers J.M. Whitehead and T.B. Shelton of the City of Suffolk Police Department received a radio dispatch relaying information or a “tip” from an anonymous telephone caller that a black male was selling drugs near the comer of Davis Boulevard and the private road leading into the Cogic Square Apartments,…