State v. Sheffield

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Sullivan, J.

This appeal involves the issue of whether a police officer has the right in appropriate circumstances to seek to question a person on the street about possible criminal behavior, even though the officer has no probable cause to make an arrest.

Defendant was convicted of the unlawful possession of heroin and was sentenced to two years probation and fined. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed the conviction on the ground that defendant’s pretrial motion to suppress the evidence consisting of 14 decks of heroin seized at the time of his…