United States v. Hensley

Where officers have a reasonable suspicion that the suspect was involved in a prior crime and have been unable to locate him to investigate their suspicions, the government retains an interest in detecting and punishing those behaviors. This interest outweighs the intrusion caused by a Terry stop. However, the Court did not address whether Terry stops to investigate all past crimes are permissible.

Whether the officers who actually stopped the defendant had knowledge of the facts that gave rise to reasonable suspicion is immaterial. What is key is whether the officers who issued the “wanted flyer” had reasonable suspicion to conduct a Terry stop. If so, the suspect may be stopped on the basis of the flyer to “check identification, pose questions to the person, or to detain the person briefly while attempting to obtain further information.” Here, the officers who stopped the defendant did so lawfully, in that the officer who issued the flyer had reasonable suspicion for a stop. Because the initial stop was lawful, all evidence seized in plain view or incident to the arrest that followed was admissible.