United States v. Sharpe

In United States v. Sharpe, 470 U.S. 675 (1985), the United States Supreme Court held a twenty-minute detention of a suspect met Fourth Amendments standards of reasonableness. In Sharpe, supra, the state highway patrol and DEA agents were following two vehicles suspected of drug activity. The state highway patrolman stopped the pickup truck and detained the driver for about fifteen minutes until the arrival of the DEA agent. The DEA agent smelled marijuana on the truck and observed large numbers of burlap wrapped bales resembling bales of marijuana on the truck. He then arrested Savage on drug charges. The court held that the detention was not too long in duration and could be justified as an investigative detention.