Handshake Fails to Convince Appeals Court Stop for Drugs Valid

The police wrongly inferred from a hearty handshake in a parking lot during broad daylight that they witnessed a drug deal, and thus evidence they recovered from a suspect after searching his home must be suppressed, the Fourth Circuit said Friday.

The totality of the circumstances suggested the detectives stopped, searched, and arrested Tremayne Drakeford on a hunch, the opinion by Judge Stephanie D. Thacker said.

Detective Douglas Moore received a tip from a confidential informant that a light-skinned, heavyset, Black male with a full beard was selling cocaine and heroine. The informant only gave Moore the suspect’s vehicle tag ...