arizona startuesday, november 2, 1999
court to rule on legality of search involving tipster, concealed gun
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said yesterday that it will decide whether police can stop and frisk someone based on an anonymous tip that a person of matching clothing and location is carrying a concealed gun.
The justices said they, will hear Florida prosecutors' argument that anonymous tips about possession of concealed weapons create a "unique situation" and a pat-down search is only a minimal intrusion on privacy. A ruling is expected by next summer.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled. that such a tip did not justify a warrantless search of three youths standing on a Miami street corner. They were not engaging in any suspicious conduct.
The case involves a juvenile identified in court papers as "J.L." who was stopped and frisked by a police officer in 1995. Police had received an anonymous tip that several young black men were standing in front of a pawnshop, and that the one in the plaid shirt was carrying a concealed firearm.
Officers frisked three youths and saw the butt of a gun in the pants pocket of the one wearing the plaid shirt. He was arrested and charged with unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a firearm by a minor.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the gun could not be used as evidence against the youth, saying the officers' actions violated the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on, unreasonable searches.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1968 that police can stop and frisk someone without a warrant if they reasonably believe the person is involved in
criminal activity or is armed and a threat to others.,'
In 1990, the justices ruled that police properly stopped a woman's car based on an anonymous tips -that she would be leaving her home at a certain time to drive to a motel while carrying illegal drugs.
In the appeal granted high court review, prosecutors said that when an anonymous tip involves a concealed firearm, a search should be justified once police confirm innocent details, such as someone's clothing.
The, court also:
*Refused to allow an international treaty to block executions of death row inmates who were not yet 18 when they committed their crimes. X convicted Nevada killer says his execution would violate the International Covenant on Civil and Poli- tical Rights, ratified in 1992.
*Voted not to spare two Louisiana newspapers from having to defend themselves at trial against a lawsuit for reporting details of an illegally recorded telephone conversation after the tape was played at a news conference. The newspapers' law, yers say the First Amendment trumps a state wire
tapping law because the newspapers did not make the illegal recording.
*Rejected the appeal of homeless people who say they have a free-speech right to beg for money at the city beach in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
*Said it will decide whether the millions of dollars a hospital receives for treating Medicare pa- tients subjects those who bribe hospital officials to federal prosecutions.