United States v. Sharpe

Supreme Court of United States (1985)

Respondent/Defendant: Sharpe and Savage; one of the defendant was driving in a pickup truck and other was following in a car. The officer got reasonable suspicion that the defendants were carrying drugs. While one of the officer pulled over the car, the defendant driving the pickup sped away and the other officer went after him. So to end the story, the defendant was held by police officers for about 20 minutes while the officers conducted investigation. The jury convicted the defendants for possession of marijuana. The court of appeals reversed the conviction stating that since the defendants were detained for about 20 minutes, their detention was an actual arrest and not a Terry investigative stop.

Issue: Were the defendants actually arrested, making thier arrest unlawful since the officers had no probable cause?

Holding: No

Legal Reasoning: The court ruled that the officers acted diligently and reasonably and the defendants were detained for a long period because of the fact that one of the defendant tried to flee from the police. The court ruled that this stop was a Terry investigative stop and not an official arrest because the officers acted diligently and reasonably to conduct the investigation as quickly as possible and any delay was due to the actions of the defendants.

BACK