## Facts

- A Derry police detective patrolling in an unmarked car and street clothes observed two men in an alley near Railroad Avenue around 6:30 p.m.
- The detective saw John Beauchesne hand something small and “unidentifiable” to a man on a bicycle.
- The detective stopped, motioned Beauchesne to come over, and Beauchesne walked away.
- The detective then identified himself as police and ordered Beauchesne to stop; Beauchesne continued walking and then ran.
- During the foot chase, when the detective tried to grab him, Beauchesne fell and either dropped or threw a bag the detective immediately recognized as marijuana.
- Beauchesne was arrested for resisting detention and possessing marijuana; officers later recovered marijuana and cocaine supporting drug-possession charges.
- The trial court denied Beauchesne’s motion to suppress the drugs; after a bench trial on stipulated facts, he was convicted of cocaine possession, marijuana possession, and resisting detention.
- On appeal, Beauchesne challenged only the denial of suppression and the resulting drug convictions.

## Issues

1. Under Part I, Article 19 of the New Hampshire Constitution, whether a “seizure” requires physical force or submission to police authority, or can occur upon a show of authority that would make a reasonable person feel not free to leave.
2. Whether the detective had reasonable suspicion or probable cause when he ordered Beauchesne to stop.
3. If the stop was unlawful, whether the marijuana and cocaine had to be suppressed as fruits of the unlawful seizure.

## Decision

- The New Hampshire Supreme Court reversed the cocaine- and marijuana-possession convictions and remanded.
- The court declined to apply the federal rule associated with California v. Hodari D. to Part I, Article 19.
- The court held Beauchesne was seized when the detective identified himself and ordered Beauchesne to stop under circumstances conveying he was not free to ignore the command.
- At the moment of that seizure, the detective lacked reasonable suspicion or probable cause; the observation of an unidentified small-object transfer, without more, was only a hunch.
- The marijuana discarded during the pursuit and the cocaine recovered through the ensuing arrest process were suppressed as fruits of the unlawful seizure.
- The resisting-detention conviction was not disturbed because it was not appealed.

## Legal Principles

- Under N.H. Const. pt. I, art. 19, a seizure occurs when police, by physical force or a show of authority, restrain liberty such that a reasonable person would not feel free to leave or terminate the encounter; submission is not required.
- A command to stop that would convey to a reasonable person they must comply is a seizure requiring prior reasonable suspicion.
- An officer must be able to identify specific, articulable facts supporting reasonable suspicion; an uncorroborated observation of a small, unidentifiable exchange in a public area is insufficient.
- Evidence obtained as a direct result of an unlawful seizure, including contraband discarded during police pursuit triggered by the unlawful show of authority, is subject to suppression as fruit of the poisonous tree.

## Conclusion

The court held that, under New Hampshire’s Constitution, the detective’s order to stop was a seizure unsupported by reasonable suspicion, requiring suppression of the drugs and reversal of the drug-possession convictions, while leaving the unchallenged resisting-detention conviction intact.


State v. Beauchesne, 868 A.2d 972 (N.H. 2005)