Hernandez-Espino v. State

Because the officer’s interaction with Hernandez-Espino did not rise to the level of a second-tier encounter and Hernandez-Espino voluntarily consented to the search of his person, I would affirm the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress.

In a first-tier encounter, police may approach citizens, ask for identification, ask for consent to search, and otherwise freely question the citizen without any basis or belief of criminal activity so long as the police do not detain the citizen or convey the message that the citizen may not leave.2

“A citizen’s ability to walk away from or otherwise…