IRA CHASE v. STATE OF MARYLAND
Court of Appeals, Battaglia, August 19, 2016,
Terry – Keeping a suspect in handcuffs for a short period of time after they have been frisked does not automatically transform a Terry stop into an arrest where there is still a reasonable belief that the suspect may have a weapon inside a nearby vehicle.

Petitioner posed the question:
Does reasonable suspicion that an individual is engaged in drug activity, by itself, constitute reasonable suspicion that the individual is armed and dangerous?

And I was really hoping that the CoA was going to answer it… but they didn’t. Instead, they spent dozens of pages rehashing old Terry opinions in order to come up with the answer we already knew (that handcuffs can be used during a Terry stop where there’s reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed). The opinion gets a little interesting when it expounds on the authority of officers to remove a suspect from a vehicle outside of the traffic-stop context, but that’s about it.

“While it is true that continued detention, once begun validly under Terry, can transform into an arrest, it is also true that the detention may remain a Terry stop, if officer safety is an issue.”

Thanks. That was helpful. Still, it’s a good read if you want to review handcuffs and frisks during a Terry Stop.

Case Summary: Baltimore County detectives entered the parking lot of the Days Inn at 695/70 which they knew was a “high area of drug trafficking.” It was evening and they observed a Jeep backed into a parking spot with the driver talking on a cell-phone. Approximately 2 minutes later a Lexus backed in next to the Jeep. The Lexus driver got out and got into the Jeep.
After observing a short time, the detectives approached the two and identified themselves, at which point they noticed that it “look[ed] like [the suspects in the Jeep] were moving things around there, reaching under the seat.” Then the passenger “immediately put his hands in his pocket.”
Both individuals were removed from the vehicle and handcuffed.
The detective explained that “the reason for the handcuffs were solely based on the safety of everybody involved, based on the furtive movements that we observed inside the vehicle as we were approaching the vehicle.”

Note: Use of handcuffs during an investigative stop transforms the stop into an arrest (requiring probable cause) unless officers can articulate “special circumstances” that justify use of the handcuffs.

Note: One of these “special circumstances” exists where there is a reasonable belief that a suspect poses a threat to safety.

Note: This threat must be articulated, however, and can’t just be assumed. For a Terry stop (or frisk), “the officer must explain how the observed conduct, when viewed in the context of all of the other circumstances known to the officer, was indicative of criminal activity.”

Notes from the case: In addition to the handcuffing and frisk, the Court notes that “concern for officer safety when weapons may be present may overcome concern about a limited Terry intrusion, such as asking [an individual] to get out of [a vehicle].”

Note: The Court’s approval of removing individuals from a vehicle here (outside the context of a “normal” traffic stop) is based on the officer’s ability to articulate a reasonable belief that the suspect was armed and dangerous.