California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Rodriguez, 196 Cal.App.3d 1041, 242 Cal.Rptr. 386 (Cal. App. 1987):
"To legally detain an individual because of 'suspicious circumstances,' the prosecution must establish on the record that at the moment of the detention, there were specific and articulable facts, which reasonably caused the officer to believe that (1) some activity out of the ordinary had taken place or was occurring or about to occur; (2) the activity was related to crime; and (3) the individual under suspicion was connected to the activity. [Citation.] The prosecution must show that the officer personally entertained such suspicions and that these were objectively reasonable. [Citation.] If the underlying facts fail to reasonably 'distinguish [the suspected individual] from any other citizen ... at that time and place,' the detention is not justified. [Citations.]" (People v. Bower (1979)
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