Police Can Detain Innocent Passengers: Florida Supreme Court
Edmondo Burr
YourNewsWire.com
September 23, 2017
The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that police can detain car passengers for a “reasonable” time, even if they are not suspected of having committed a crime.
Holding an innocent passenger, during even a minor traffic stop, for a “reasonable” amount of time, does not violate their constitutional rights, The Newspaper reports.
By Aaron Kesel:
The high court made the ruling after evaluating a January 29, 2015 traffic stop in which a car with a broken tail light was pulled over in Gainesville for allegedly rolling through a stop sign. Gregory Presley was one of two passengers in the stopped vehicle questioned by Officer John Pandak about who he was and where they were going. The officer asked if any of the passengers had been drinking and Presley questioned why would that be a problem.
“I don’t know, man,” Officer Pandak replied. “This is a traffic stop, you’re part of it. So we’re hanging out. That’s all there is to it…. Well, we’re just talking, man. You can’t go anywhere at the moment because you’re part of this stop. That’s all.”
The Rest…HERE
