Michigan v. Chesternut

The test for determining when a person is “seized” under the Fourth Amendment is whether, “in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave.” Here, there was no evidence the government attempted to impinge the defendant’s ability to leave. “While the very presence of a police car driving parallel to a running pedestrian could be somewhat intimidating, this kind of police presence does not, standing alone, constitute a seizure.” In sum, the police conduct in this case would not have communicated to a reasonable person an attempt to capture or otherwise intrude upon the defendant’s freedom of movement. No “seizure” occurred.