Oregon Supreme Court, December 9, 2021

by: Rankin Johnson • December 10, 2021 • no comments

Summarized by Rankin Johnson, OCDLA

SEARCH AND SEIZURE - Coercive questioning
Importance: 4/5

Police stopped defendant by asking if he had just bought drugs from a man in an alleyway. Trial court and Court of Appeals reversed.

The court declined to create a bright-line test to determine when questioning became coercive enough to constitute a stop. In finding that the questioning in this case was coercive, the court reasoned that, by asking defendant if he possessed drugs, and asking for permission to search when he received a denial, the stopping officer conveyed that he was investigating defendant for a crime. Because the stopping officer lacked reasonable suspicion, the stop was unlawful.

State v. Reyes-Herrera 369 Or 54 (December 9, 2021) (Walters) (Washington County, Butterfield)