People v. Souza

Opinion

KENNARD, J.

When a person takes “flight” at the sight of a police officer, may the officer temporarily detain the person for questioning? Because under the Fourth Amendment the lawfulness of a temporary detention depends not on any one circumstance viewed in isolation, but upon the totality of the circumstances known to the detaining officer, we decline to establish a “bright-line” rule that flight without more provides cause to detain. We recognize, however, that flight in response to the appearance of a uniformed officer or a marked patrol car ordinarily is behavior that police may…