161 Ga. App. 144 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1982
The police, while looking for a suspect in a murder that occurred 24 hours earlier, saw a group of men at a bus stop where the murder had occurred; they appeared to be gambling, and were drinking beer
Appellee acknowledges that pursuant to the holding in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1 (88 SC 1868, 20 LE2d 889), police officers have the right to stop a person for investigation of possible criminal behavior even though there is no probable cause for arrest. Appellee also acknowledges that when a “Terry” stop of a person is made, the police may make a “pat down” search for weapons, for their own protection, when they have a reasonable apprehension they may be dealing with an armed and dangerous person. In the instant case, the police were patrolling a neighborhood where a murder had been committed 24 hours earlier, looking for a suspect. At the exact spot where the murder had occurred the police saw several individuals who appeared to be gambling, and drinking, so they stopped and asked for identification; the police also had the name of the murder suspect and were checking the identification of everyone in that particular neighborhood. The policeman testified that he conducted the pat down for his own protection, as a man had been shot and killed at the same location the night before, and “I didn’t want to be the next person killed.”
It is. clear that the police had authority to stop and ask the group of men involved for their identification; not only were they looking for a murder suspect, but the men appeared to be engaged in suspected criminal activities. Under the holding in Terry, supra, police are authorized to stop a person for possible criminal behavior; such a situation existed in the instant case. Further, knowing that the murder victim had been shot, it was reasonable to apprehend that if one of the persons stopped was the suspect, he would be armed. The stop took place at night, and five men were present at the scene. Under such circumstances, we believe the police officer was justified in conducting a “pat down” for his own protection.
Finally, the marijuana was not found as a direct result of the pat
Judgment reversed.