Commonwealth v. Cauley

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• concluding that mere encounter transformed into investigative detention when officer asked defendant to perform field sobriety tests and defendant was no longer free to leave
• explaining that “[b]ecause the level of intrusion may change during the course of the police encounter, the record must be carefully scrutinized for any evidence of such changes”
• discussing that an investigative detention arises upon an officer’s command to undergo such testing
• concluding the smell of alcohol and the appellant’s bloodshot and glassy eyes provided the - 10 - J-S10012-26 police officer with reasonable suspicion to support an investigative detention, which included the administration of field sobriety tests
• noting a mere encounter occurs when an officer approaches a citizen in public for the purpose of making inquiries.
• “Because the level of intrusion may change during the course of the encounter, the record must be carefully scrutinized for any evidence of such changes.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).