In reviewing a Circuit Court's grant or denial of a motion to suppress evidence under the Fourth Amendment, we ordinarily consider only the information contained in the record of the suppression hearing and not the trial record. Dashiell v. State, 374 Md. 85, 93, 821 A.2d 372, 376 (2003) (quoting State v. Collins, 367 Md. 700, 706-08, 790 A.2d 660, 663-64 (2002) (citing Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356, 368, 735 A.2d 491, 497 (1999). Where, as here, the motion to suppress was denied, we view the facts in the record in the light most favorable to the State, the prevailing party on the motion.
Instead of appreciating that with the " Whren stop" the law enforcement prerogative may already be stretched to its outermost limit, police officers fall into the habit of accepting the " Whren stop" as an unremarkable norm and then try to stretch yet further what may already be right at the breaking point. The secondary lesson is that if this case is not squarely controlled by a linear application of the holding of the Court of Appeals in Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356, 735 A.2d 491 (1999), it is nonetheless a variation on a theme by Ferris. The appellant, Kendrick Orlando Charity, was convicted in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County of the possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.
Such directive constituted a greater show of authority than had previously been made (other than the physical stop of Freeman's vehicle itself). See Strickler, 563 Pa. at 68, 757 A.2d at 896 (citing Ferris v. State, 735 A.2d 491, 505 (Md. 1999) (stating that "a request that an individual move in some manner has been consistently regarded by this Court as persuasive evidence that a fourth amendment seizure has occurred" (citation omitted))). Moreover, given everything that had come before, although these events occurred after express conferral of advice that Freeman was free to depart, they would have suggested to a reasonable person that such advice was no longer operative.
" The prosecutor also sought to distinguish Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356, 735 A.2d 491 (1999), arguing: . . . Ferris talked about a number of factors.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, including seizures that involve only a brief detention.See United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, ___, 122 S.Ct. 744, 750, 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002); United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 551, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 1875, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980); Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356, 369, 735 A.2d 491, 497 (1999). Generally, seizures of persons require probable cause to arrest, and investigative detentions violate the Fourth Amendment in the absence of probable cause.
Id. See also Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356, 368, 735 A.2d 491 (1999). In this case, the motion to suppress was denied, and the prevailing party is the State.
The Supreme Court has made it clear that a detention should only last as long as it [sic] necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop. Ferris v. State of Maryland, 355 Md. 356, 369, 735 A.2d 491 (1999) ( quotingFlorida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 500, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.E.d2d 229 (1983)). As previously discussed, the stop, of Defendant implemented the Fourth Amendment but was a valid seizure based on probable cause-the Defendant was speeding.
Our review of a circuit court's denial of a motion to suppress evidence under the Fourth Amendment ordinarily is limited to information contained in the record of the suppression hearing. See Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356, 368, 735 A.2d 491, 497 (1999); In re Tariq A-R-Y, 347 Md. 484, 488, 701 A.2d 691, 693 (1997); Simpler v. State, 318 Md. 311, 312, 568 A.2d 22, 22 (1990); Trusty v. State, 308 Md. 658, 670, 521 A.2d 749, 755 (1990). We do not look at the trial record for additional information, nor do we engage in de novo fact-finding.
Reduced to its simplest terms, the issues in this case require us to answer two questions: 1) Was the initial encounter between Troy William Reynolds and the two law enforcement officers, Detective Thomas Coleman and Officer McNamara, a consensual accosting or a stop unsupported by reasonable articulable suspicion? 2) During the five minute detention of appellant, do the circumstances, when subjected to an objective standard, indicate that a reasonable person would have felt free to leave and end the encounter? See Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356, 367 (1999). As court decisions — particularly decisions emanating from the Supreme Court — have considered Fourth Amendment implications attendant to police-citizen confrontations in public places, the thread running throughout these decisions is that lawfulness of the encounter turns on the reasonableness of the actions of law enforcement officials, which must be evaluated according to the alternative which is minimally invasive of personal liberties, yet permits officers to carry out their sworn duties when the facts, which have come to their attention through legitimate means, demonstrate the commission of a criminal act or acts.
Many courts have analyzed the applicability of the Fourth Amendment in terms of three tiers of interaction between a citizen and the police. See, e.g., United States v. Werking, 915 F.2d 1404, 1407 (10th Cir. 1990); United Statesv. Black, 675 F.2d 129, 132-33 (7th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1068, 103 S.Ct. 1520, 75 L.Ed.2d 945 (1983); Ferris v. State, 355 Md. 356, 374 n. 5, 735 A.2d 491, 500 n. 5 (1999); State v. Markland, 112 P.3d 507, 509 n. 1 (Utah 2005); Jefferson v. State, 349 Ark. 236, 76 S.W.3d 850, 854-55 (2002); Com. v. Sierra, 555 Pa. 170, 723 A.2d 644, 646 n. 3 (1999); Wilson v. State, 874 P.2d 215, 219-20 (Wyo. 1994). The most intrusive encounter, an arrest, requires probable cause to believe that a person has committed or is committing a crime.