We often hear the term Probable Cause in criminal law. Police officers must have probable cause to make an arrest or to have enough information to convince a Judge to sign a search warrant. The term that is less familiar but just as important is Reasonable Suspicion. The Courts have ruled that police officers must have reasonable suspicion of some criminal activity before they can detain a citizen to investigate a crime. If there was no reasonable suspicion at the initial detention then the arrest can be thrown out by the trial judge and a later time.
Texas Courts have ruled that when determining whether the police officer had sufficient reasonable suspicion the evidence must show these three facts.
- Some activity out of the ordinary is occurring or has occurred
- The suspect detained is connected with that activity
- The suspicious activity is related to the crime
The criminal attorney must review his facts for detention by weighing these three factors. If the evidence is weak on any of these three facts she should consider filing a motion to suppress the arrest.