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Terry V. Ohio-Stop And Frisk Case

2176 Words9 Pages

On October 31, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio a Cleveland police officer, named Martin McFadden, saw three men acting suspiciously around a jewelry store, which he believed they were casing a job. The officer, McFadden, walked up to three men and asked a few questions; afterwards, he proceeded to stop and frisk them. McFadden found a pistol in John Terry’s pocket, a revolver in Richard Chilton’s pocket and nothing was found on Carl Katz. The officer arrested Terry and Chilton for carrying concealed weapons and Carl Katz was sent free. Terry was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail.
Terry had filed to the District Court of Cleveland because he wanted the evidence that was found on him thrown out. Terry had felt that the evidence that was found on him violated his Fourth Amendment; which is the people’s right against search and seizures. In an eight to one decision, the court had decided that McFadden, the police officer, had enough probable cause to search him and that it did not violate the Fourth Amendment.
After Terry was convicted with three years in jail, he filed with the Supreme Court of appeals. The court had found that the officer acted responsibly and Chief Justice Warren stated that “a reasonably prudent man would have been warranted in believing …show more content…

Ohio-Stop and Frisk Searches’, Net Industries states that “a police officer may stop someone on the basis of a reasonable suspicion that the person is engaged in wrongdoing; and may on a similarly reasonable basis--i.e., one that will hold up to scrutiny in the courtroom--"frisk" or search the subject.” (Net Industries). Additionally the officer, McFadden, had seen Terry and his friends walking around the block as if they were casing a job and he had reasonable suspicion that they were engaging in some sort of wrongdoing. McFadden saw the three men and saw that they were pacing around the same store five times; which he thought meant that they were casing a job, or a

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