Arizona v. Johnson26 January 2009, 10:00 pm(U.S.S.C., Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence) In a case involving the authority of police officers to "stop and frisk" a passenger in a motor vehicle after a traffic stop, the Court rules that: 1) the first condition of Terry v. Ohio, i.e. a lawful investigatory stop, is met whenever it is lawful for police to detain an automobile and its occupants pending inquiry into a vehicular violation; 2) police need not have, in addition, cause to believe any occupant of the vehicle is involved in criminal activity; and 3) to justify a pat-down of the driver or a passenger during a traffic stop, however, just as in the case of a pedestrian reasonably suspected of criminal activity, the police must harbor reasonable suspicion that the person subjected to the frisk is armed and dangerous.
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