In re J.G

In In re J.G. (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 402, Officer Woelkers approached a juvenile and his brother and asked if he could speak to them. (Id. at p. 405.) The juvenile answered, "'Yeah.'" (Ibid.) Less than a minute later, another officer arrived. (Ibid.) Officer Woelkers asked the brothers for identification, ran a records check, and conducted consensual pat searches while physically restraining them. (Id. at pp. 405-406.) Meanwhile, two more officers arrived, and one of the officers handed a rifle to one of the others. (Id. at p. 406.) At this point, Officers Woelkers asked the brothers to sit on the curb, which they did. (Ibid.) As they were sitting on the curb, Officer Woelkers obtained the juvenile's consent to search the juvenile's backpack and found a firearm. (Ibid.) About 10 or 15 minutes passed between the officer's first contact with the brothers and the juvenile's arrest. (Ibid.) The Court of Appeal held that the officer's interaction with the juvenile began as a consensual encounter, but "turned into a detention as Officer Woelkers's suspicions persisted without apparent reason, as the encounter became increasingly intrusive, as the minutes passed, and as the police presence and show of force grew. We conclude that by the time Officer Woelkers asked the juvenile to sit on the curb, a reasonable person in his circumstances would not have felt free to end the encounter." (Id. at p. 411.)