State v. Lovelady, 2014 Mo. LEXIS 146

Officers saw Lovelady riding a bicycle in circles late at night in a high-crime area; he waved and said, “They went that way,” while pointing down the street.
Officer Smith observed what appeared to be a handgun in Lovelady’s waistband; officers stopped, drew firearms, ordered him to the ground, handcuffed him, and escorted him to the patrol car.
The officers examined the object and determined it was an Airsoft toy gun; during the encounter they believed Lovelady appeared intoxicated and he gave no explanation for his earlier comment.
While detained, officers ran a warrant check; about five minutes after the stop the check returned a pickup order, they arrested Lovelady, and a search incident to arrest revealed cocaine base and a knife.
Lovelady moved to suppress the drugs as fruit of an unlawful detention; the trial court denied suppression, convicted him after a bench trial, and the Missouri Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether officers had reasonable suspicion to continue detention after learning the gun was a toy	Continued detention lacked reasonable suspicion once toy gun discovered; sole basis for stop evaporated	Totality of circumstances (toy gun’s realistic appearance, late-night behavior, circling, pointing, intoxication, high-crime area) supported continued suspicion to run warrant check	Court held reasonable suspicion persisted; detention for warrant check was lawful

State v. Grayson, 336 S.W.3d 138 (Mo. banc 2011) (standard for reviewing suppression ruling and Fourth Amendment analysis)
Pike v. State, 162 S.W.3d 464 (Mo. banc 2005) (reasonable suspicion less than probable cause)
State v. Goff, 129 S.W.3d 857 (Mo. banc 2004) (deference to trial court fact findings and credibility)
State v. Norfolk, 366 S.W.3d 528 (Mo. banc 2012) (reasonable suspicion reviewed de novo)
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) (Terry stop framework permitting brief investigatory detention on reasonable suspicion)
State v. Waldrup, 331 S.W.3d 668 (Mo. banc 2011) (applying Terry in Missouri context)
State v. Deck, 994 S.W.2d 527 (Mo. banc 1999) (Terry stop must remain based on reasonable suspicion)
State v. Mack, 66 S.W.3d 706 (Mo. banc 2002) (reasonable suspicion requires specific and articulable facts)
United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266 (2002) (totality-of-circumstances and officer training inferences)
United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1 (1989) (innocent conduct may contribute to reasonable suspicion in context)
Maryland v. Macon, 472 U.S. 463 (1985) (objective assessment of officer's actions governs Fourth Amendment review)