⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Second Circuit hears Richard Greatsinger's appeal in United States versus Taylor. Federal investigators suspected Greatsinger had obtained drugs after visiting another man under investigation. They asked local police to stop his car in West Haven, Connecticut. Officers brought a drug-detection dog, searched the car, and found drugs. Greatsinger asked the district court to exclude that evidence, arguing the stop was unlawful. The court denied the motion, finding that the investigators' suspicions could support the stop through other officers. That principle is called the collective knowledge doctrine. A brief investigative stop requires reasonable suspicion grounded in specific facts about possible criminal activity. The question here is how much information the investigator must give the officer who actually makes the stop. Greatsinger will argue that an instruction to stop the car was not enough: the officer needed to be told the basis for suspicion. The government will contend that an officer with adequate grounds can direct another officer to act without explaining every underlying fact.

United States of America v. Taylor (Greatsinger) (No. 25-1914) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, argued October 13, 2026.