Facts: On April 22, 1987, at approximately 3:00 pm Corporal Davis with the Montgomery, Alabama Police Department received an anonymous phone tip that Vanessa White would depart the Lynnwood Apartment complex at 4:00 pm and that she would be driving a brown station wagon with the right-tail light cracked. [1] The caller informed Corporal Davis that White would be going to the Doby Motel and would be in possession of cocaine in a brown portfolio. After the call, Davis and his partner drove to the apartment complex and set up surveillance. Officers then observed White leaves the complex and followed her to the motel. White's vehicle was stopped about 4:18 p.m. in front of the Jet Theatre. [2] Corporal Davis asked White to get out of her car and …show more content…
At the arraignment, White pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment. After a hearing and following a denial of her pretrial motion to suppress, White entered a conditional plea of guilty to the charges, clearly preserving the right to raise, on appeal, the matter of the trial court's denial of her suppression motion. [5] The Court sentenced White to two years in prison. The ruling was suspended, and she was placed on two years’ probation. On appeal, Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama reversed and reduced White's conviction on April 28, 1989. The Court held that a confirmed anonymous tip which involved easily known details was insufficient to validate an investigatory stop of a defendant. [6] Rehearing was denied by the appellate court on June 16, 1989. The Alabama Supreme Court denied certiorari without opinion on September 22, 1989, with two Justices dissenting. The Court reversed the judgment of the appellate court and remanded for further proceedings because when the officers stopped White, the anonymous tip from the informant had been effectively confirmed to furnish reasonable suspicion that White was involved in criminal activity. [7] The investigative stop the officers conducted did not violate White’s Fourth Amendment