Can Police Stop a Car Based on Prior Contacts With a Person ?

In People v. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d 382, 806 N.E.2d 1281, 282 Ill. Dec. 693 (2004), police officers anticipated an undercover purchase of drugs from a man named Gonzales, from whom an officer had previously purchased drugs. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 384. Officers expected Gonzales to arrive at a store parking lot with another person, but they did not know who that other person would be. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 384. Officers observed a black Ford Mustang enter the parking lot. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 384. Gonzales was driving the Mustang and the defendant was in the passenger seat. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 384. Officers recognized the Mustang as the defendant's vehicle from two prior police contacts with the defendant. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 384. Gonzales parked the Mustang 20 feet from an officer's undercover vehicle, entered the vehicle, and delivered cocaine to the undercover officer. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 384. After a prearranged arrest signal was given, both Gonzales and the defendant were arrested. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 384-85. The defendant did nothing other than sit in the Mustang. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 385. a pat-down search of the defendant led to the discovery of narcotics in the defendant's sock. The defendant was charged with unlawful possession with intent to deliver a substance containing cocaine (720 ILCS 570/401(a)(2)(A) (West 2000)), unlawful delivery of a substance containing cocaine (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2) (West 2000)), and unlawful possession of a substance containing cocaine (720 ILCS 570/402(a)(2)(A) (West 2000)). Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 383-84. The trial court granted the defendant's motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence, holding that the police lacked probable cause to arrest the defendant. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 385. On appeal from this ruling, the State did not argue that the police had probable cause to arrest the defendant but, rather, contended that the officers were permitted to detain the defendant and search him for weapons pursuant to Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21-22, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889, 906, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 1880 (1968). Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 386. In affirming the trial court's judgment, the majority in Morquecho held that the police lacked the required Terry suspicion to pat the defendant down for weapons, and it did not discuss the propriety of the stop. Morquecho, 347 Ill. App. 3d at 386.