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It was a dark and stormy court
I’m not particularly a fan of Chief Justice Johnny, but the noir opening to his dissent in Pennsylvania v. Dunlap, about a drug arrest and probable cause issues, is pretty solid:
Officer Sean Devlin, Narcotics Strike Force, was working the morning shift. Undercover surveillance. The neighborhood? Tough as a three-dollar steak. Devlin knew. Five years on the beat, nine months with the Strike Force. He’d made fifteen, twenty drug busts in the neighborhood.
Devlin spotted him: a lone man on the corner. Another approached. Quick exchange of words. Cash handed over; small objects handed back. Each man then quickly on his own way. Devlin knew the guy wasn’t buying bus tokens. He radioed a description and Officer Stein picked up the buyer. Sure enough: three bags of crack in the guy’s pocket. Head downtown and book him. Just another day at the office.
But where’s the gal with the gams that just wouldn’t quit?
Comments
The neighborhood? Tough as a three-dollar steak. I died.
I wanted to be a crime writer. But life in the third world forced me to try and dedicate my life to the Law. I think I'll become a court member and do both. Thank you so much for the inspiring entry.
Posted by JC | October 15, 2008 2:26 PM