TRENTON — The New Jersey Supreme Court said a police officer overstepped his authority while searching a suspect in Plainfield in 2003. The officer, Jeffrey Plum, received an anonymous tip that a man with a handgun was standing at a Plainfield street corner. When Plum arrived at the scene, he spotted Tysen Privott, a suspected gang associate. During the...
Two justices, Barry Albin (shown above) and Roberto Rivera-Soto, dissented from the majority ruling, saying that officer Jeffrey Plum acted appropriately in a 2003 search of a suspected gang associate.TRENTON — The New Jersey Supreme Court said a police officer overstepped his authority while searching a suspect in Plainfield in 2003.
The officer, Jeffrey Plum, received an anonymous tip that a man with a handgun was standing at a Plainfield street corner. When Plum arrived at the scene, he spotted Tysen Privott, a suspected gang associate.
During the search, Plum pulled up Privott's long T-shirt to check for a gun in his waistband. Instead of a gun, Plum found a bag of crack cocaine.
The Supreme Court said Plum was permitted to frisk Privott, but should not have lifted his shirt, saying officers should use “the least intrusive means reasonably available to verify or dispel the officer’s suspicion in a short period of time.”
Five justices joined the court's majority opinion, which was written by former justice John Wallace. Two justices, Barry Albin and Roberto Rivera-Soto, dissented, saying Plum acted appropriately in searching Privott.
After the 2003 stop, Privott was indicted on drug charges, including possession with intent to distribute. The trial court refused to throw out evidence from Plum's search, but appellate judges overturned the conviction, saying police needed to corroborate the anonymous tip before searching Privott.
Although the Supreme Court agreed to throw out the conviction, it disagreed with the Appellate Division's decision, saying only the scope of Plum's search was excessive, not the search itself.