In People v. Francois , Jerry Francois was arrested for attempting to use a stolen credit card to purchase a MetroCard.
At his trial, Francois wanted to have the evidence against him suppressed on the grounds a police officer had stopped and detained him without "reasonable suspicion."
When the New York County Supreme Court denied Francois's request, and he was later convicted of criminal possession of stolen property, an appeal to the Appellate Division, First Department, followed.
After observing Francois repeatedly inserting a credit card in a MetroCard vending machine and struggling to enter a matching ZIP code, an officer approached and asked Francois if he needed assistance. When Francois admitted he was having difficulty, the officer asked Francois to join him and another officer at nearby wall and then "grasped" Francois's elbow and led him to that area.
The AD1 was of the view the officer had enough suspicion to conduct an inquiry since Francois's behavior was typical of a person using a misappropriated credit card. It also felt that the officer's "touching" didn't amount to a seizure (which would have required "reasonable suspicion").
A lone dissenter, Justice Catterson, thought the officer's interaction was significantly more intrusive than "slight physical contact," and had escalated the encounter to a seizure.
Is there no bidding adieu to Francois just yet?
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Francois