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Detention Based on Avoiding Contact With Police in High Crime Neighborhood

Case Name: People v. Flores (2021) 60 Cal.App.5th 978, review granted 4/21/2021
Case #: S267522/B305359
Last Updated: July 26, 2023

Briefing in People v. Flores (2021) 60 Cal.App.5th 978, review granted 4/21/2021, was initially deferred pending decision in People v. Tacardon (2022) 14 Cal.5th 235. On 7/26/2023, the court ordered briefing on the following issue: Was defendant’s detention supported by reasonable suspicion that he was engaged in criminal activity? [Editor’s Note: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence. Flores and his vehicle were searched based on these facts: after dark in a high crime neighborhood, a man in a tank top ducked halfway behind his car after he saw police and began “toying with his feet.” He failed to rise immediately “like a normal human being” and express his surprise at being approached and put under a spotlight. He straightened up only when told to do so by the police.]

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