author: Justice ROACH.

text:
    Linda H. WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. WAL-MART STORES, INC., Appellee.
    No. 2004-SC-000080-DG.
    Supreme Court of Kentucky.
    Nov. 23, 2005.
    Rehearing Denied March 23, 2006.

      Lee Huddleston, Huddleston & Huddle-ston, Bowling Green, Counsel for Appellant.
    Elizabeth U. Mendel, Kathryn A. Ques-enberry, Erin M. Roark, Woodward, Hob-son & Fulton, Louisville, Counsel for Ap-pellee.
   Opinion of the Court by

Justice ROACH.

I. INTRODUCTION

Linda Williams (‘Williams”) brought suit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart”) and two individual Wal-Mart management employees. Williams alleged that she had been subjected to unlawful age discrimination, disability discrimination, and retaliation in violation of KRS Chapter 344. The case proceeded to trial and the sole claim presented to the jury was whether Williams had been subjected to age discrimination by Wal-Mart. The jury determined that Williams had been the victim of unlawful age discrimination and awarded her damages of $539,237.00. Those damages consisted of $97,237.00 for lost past and future wages, $192,000.00 for humiliation, embarrassment and mental distress, and $250,000.00 in punitive damages. A divided panel of the Court of Appeals held that Williams had failed to present evidence to satisfy the elements of an age discrimination claim and reversed the trial court. This Court granted discretionary review to consider whether the jury’s verdict against Wal-Mart for age discrimination should be upheld. Having determined that Williams failed to prove she was the victim of unlawful age discrimination, we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals.

II. BACKGROUND

“On appellate review, when determining whether the trial court erred in denying a motion for directed verdict, the non-moving party’s evidence is taken as true and the non-moving party is entitled to all reasonable inferences that may be made from the evidence.” Kentucky Dep’t of Corrs. v. McCullough, 123 S.W.3d 130, 134 (Ky.2003). We will state the facts in that light.

Williams was hired by Wal-Mart in July of 1986, and worked as a cashier there until her job separation on October 7,1995. She was fifty-six years of age at the time of her separation. Because of a medical condition, it was necessary for Williams to take medicine at various times throughout her workday. Her doctor also recommended that her prescription be taken with sodium-free water. Initially, Williams brought sodium-free water from home and left it in the employee’s lounge. However, because other employees sometimes drank the water or threw it away, Williams decided it would be simpler to purchase water at the store as she needed it.

The sodium-free water was stocked at the front of the store, near the cash registers. On October 5, 1995, Williams took and drank a gallon of water without paying for it. Williams testified that she believed customer service manager Jennie Gray had given her permission to take the water and pay for it at the end of her workday. At the end of her shift that day, Williams paid 58 cents for the water.

On October 6,1995, Williams took another gallon of water without paying for it. Other employees witnessed Williams’s actions and reported her conduct to Joyce Bosse, an assistant manager at the store. Bosse called Joe Medina, an area loss-prevention supervisor to report the incident. Medina instructed her to monitor the situation. At the end of Williams’s shift that day, she left the unfinished water on top of the refrigerator in the employee lounge and left the store without paying for it.

On October 7, 1995, Williams finished the water from the previous day and discarded the container. Williams then took another gallon of water. Bosse called Medina again for further instructions as to how she should handle the situation. Medina told Bosse that if Williams could not produce receipts for the water, she was to be terminated. At this point, a meeting was held between Wal-Mart managers and Williams. During the meeting, which Williams later described as a forty-five minute interrogation, the managers repeatedly accused her of stealing the water. Williams contended that she did not steal the water, but was unable to produce receipts for its purchase. During this meeting, Williams resigned. As she left the store, Williams paid for the two gallons of water. Additional facts relevant to the appropriate legal inquiry will be set forth below.

III. Analysis

A. Age Discrimination Claim

KRS 344.040(1) states that it is unlawful for an employer to “fail or refuse to hire, or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against an individual ... because of the individual’s ... age.” This Court has consistently interpreted the civil rights provisions of KRS Chapter 344 consistent with the applicable federal anti-discrimination laws. See Brooks v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Hous. Auth., 132 S.W.3d 790, 802 (Ky.2004); Howard Baer, Inc. v. Schave, 127 S.W.3d 589, 592 (Ky.2003); Bank One, Kentucky, N.A. v. Murphy, 52 S.W.3d 540, 544 (Ky.2001); Ammerman v. Bd. of Educ. of Nicholas County, 30 S.W.3d 793, 797-98 (Ky.2000). Age discrimination cases under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634, are analyzed under the same framework as employment discrimination cases under Title VII. Grosjean v. First Energy Corp., 349 F.3d 332, 335 (6th Cir.2003).

1. The Prima Facie Case

There are two paths for a plaintiff seeking to establish an age discrimination case. One path consists of direct evidence of discriminatory animus. Absent direct evidence of discrimination, Plaintiff must satisfy the burden-shifting test of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). The reasoning behind the McDonnell Douglas burden shifting approach is to allow a victim of discrimination to establish a case through inferential and circumstantial proof. As Justice O’Connor has noted, “the entire purpose of the McDonnell Douglas prima facie case is to compensate for the fact that direct evidence of intentional discrimination is hard to come by.” Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 271, 109 S.Ct. 1775, 1802, 104 L.Ed.2d 268 (1989) (O’Connor, J. concurring); see also Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston, 469 U.S. 111, 121, 105 S.Ct. 613, 622, 83 L.Ed.2d 523 (1985) (“The shifting burdens of proof set forth in McDonnell Douglas are designed to assure that the ‘plaintiff [has] his day in court despite the unavailability of direct evidence.’ ”). If a plaintiff attempts to prove its case using the McDonnell Douglas framework, then the plaintiff is not required to introduce direct evidence of discrimination. Kline v. Tennessee Valley Auth., 128 F.3d 337, 349 (6th Cir.1997).

Under the McDonnell Douglas framework a plaintiff can establish a prima facie case of age discrimination by proving that he or she: (1) was a member of a protected class, (2) was discharged, (3) was qualified for the position from which they were discharged, and (4) was replaced by a person outside the protected class. Kline, 128 F.3d at 349. In age discrimination cases the fourth element is modified to require replacement not by a person outside the protected class, but replacement by a significantly younger person. O’Connor v. Consol. Coin Caterers Corp., 517 U.S. 308, 313, 116 S.Ct. 1307, 1310, 134 L.Ed.2d 433 (1996). In the present matter, there is no dispute that Williams proved the first three elements of her case. However, Wal-Mart asserts that Williams did not establish that she was replaced by a significantly younger person, thus failing to satisfy the fourth requirement.

Specifically, Wal-Mart claims that Williams was not replaced but that her duties were redistributed among existing employees. See Grosjean, 349 F.3d at 336 (“A person is not replaced when another employee is assigned to perform the plaintiffs duties in addition to other duties, or when the work is redistributed among other existing employees already performing related work. A person is replaced only when another employee is hired or reassigned to perform the plaintiffs duties.” (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)). Williams counters that assertion with documentary evidence produced by Wal-Mart in discovery, which demonstrates that every person hired after Williams’s separation was younger than she was. The fourth prong, however, requires replacement by an individual who is significantly younger than the terminated employee. There have been numerous cases in the federal courts discussing how many years younger a replacement has to be in order to satisfy the significantly-younger requirement. See Grosjean, 349 F.3d at 338-340 (discussing the numerous approaches to the issue by the federal circuit courts of appeals and concluding that an age difference of less than six years is not significant).

We do not need to settle that precise issue today. The exhibit introduced by the plaintiff demonstrates that the next sixteen hires made by Wal-Mart after Williams’s separation consisted of individuals at least eight years younger than Williams. In fact, all but three were under forty. Furthermore, Wal-Mart’s reliance on Grosjean is misplaced as the case actually supports Williams’s position. In Grosjean, an existing employee temporarily assumed the plaintiffs job responsibilities after he was reassigned, and the position was eventually filled by another individual. The court concluded that the temporary replacement was not the relevant replacement for purposes of plaintiffs age discrimination claim, focusing instead on the individual hired to fill the position permanently. In the present matter, even if Wal-Mart established that the cashier duties of Williams were temporarily absorbed by other employees, the company cannot overcome the fact that its next sixteen hires were substantially younger. Quite simply, when the evidence at trial is viewed in the light most favorable to Williams, it establishes that she was replaced by at least one of these substantially younger individuals.

2. The Legitimate, Nondiscriminatory Reason for Termination

Once the plaintiff has established a prima facie case, the burden shifts to the employer to articulate a “legitimate nondiscriminatory reason” for the termination decision. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 142, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 2106, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (quoting Texas Dep’t of Cmty. Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 254, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 1094, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981)) (internal quotation marks omitted). The defendant bears only the burden of production and this involves no credibility assessments. Id.

Wal-Mart presented evidence at trial that it had a strict policy against employees taking merchandise without first paying for it and that a violation of the policy resulted in immediate termination. Additionally, Wal-Mart did not allow employees to purchase merchandise while “on the clock.” Therefore, Wal-Mart’s employees are only permitted to obtain and pay for merchandise at the beginning or end of their shifts or during lunch breaks. Wal-Mart contends that Williams was fired for violating these policies.

3. Plaintiffs Showing of Pretext

After a defendant has provided a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the termination, the McDonnell Douglas framework disappears. Reeves, 530 U.S. at 142, 120 S.Ct. at 2106. At this point, the plaintiff must persuade the trier of fact, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant unlawfully discriminated against her. Id. In order to prevail, the plaintiff must typically demonstrate that the employer’s stated reason for the termination was merely a pretext, masking the discriminatory motive. Id. In other words, a plaintiff is required to “produce sufficient evidence from which the jury [could] reasonably reject the employer’s explanation.” Manzer v. Diamond Shamrock Chems., Co., 29 F.3d 1078, 1083 (6th Cir.1994). In Manzer, the court listed three methods for establishing pretext: (1) the proffered reasons are false; (2) the proffered reasons did not actually motivate the decision; and (3) the plaintiff could show that the reasons given were insufficient to motivate the decision. Id. at 1084.

The Court of Appeals concluded that Williams did not establish pretext and therefore her age discrimination claim failed. We disagree, and believe that Williams made a weak showing of pretext. Again, the evidence must be considered in the light most favorable to Williams, and we discuss the following facts with that standard in mind.

Williams testified that on October 5, she received permission from a manager to pay for the water at the end of her shift. There was also evidence that management employees watched Williams pay for the empty jug of water at the end of her shift on October 5 but said nothing. Williams argues that if there was truly a zero-tolerance policy then she would have been discharged or confronted on that day. In addition, she claims that she was not afforded the opportunity to pay for the water on October 7 and that she had planned to pay for both jugs at the end of the shift, just as she had done two days earlier. Williams also argues that the extreme measures employed by Wal-Mart management employees at the meeting where she was confronted with the charges demonstrates pretext. She contends that Wal-Mart’s efforts to coerce a confession and force her resignation by threatening criminal prosecution are further evidence of pretext. Wal-Mart responds that no manager gave Williams permission to pay for the water at the end of her shift and that she had every opportunity before the shift and during her lunch break to pay for the water, but she failed to do so. Nevertheless, Williams has produced sufficient evidence such that a jury might reasonably reject Wal-Mart’s explanation for her dismissal. We emphasize that we are not to make an independent judgment of the evidence and, with this standard in mind, we believe Williams established a weak showing of pretext.

4. Beyond a Showing of Pretext

Until the United States Supreme Court issued St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks, 509 U.S. 502, 113 S.Ct. 2742, 125 L.Ed.2d 407 (1993), federal courts were split in characterizing the impact of a showing of pretext by the plaintiff. Three approaches were developed by the Circuits — the Sixth Circuit described these approaches in the following way:

“Pretext only” is the least stringent of the three approaches. It simply requires that a plaintiff prove that the defendant’s proffered reason is pretextual. Once this is proven, the plaintiff is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
The moderate approach to pretext analysis is dubbed the “permissive pretext only” standard. Under this method, if the plaintiff establishes that the defendant’s reasons are pretextual the trier of fact is permitted, but not required, to enter judgment for the plaintiff. The technique allows a permissive rather than a mandatory determination favoring the plaintiff.
Under the “pretext plus” strand of analysis, a plaintiff acquires an additional burden. The plaintiff must not only demonstrate that the employer’s asserted reasons were pretextual, but the plaintiff also must introduce additional evidence of discrimination. Only with an indirect and direct showing of discrimination is the plaintiff entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The pretext plus approach was the position of a majority of the circuit courts prior to 1993.

Kline v. Tennessee Valley Auth., 128 F.3d 337, 343 (6th Cir.1997) (citations omitted).

In St. Mary’s Honor Center, the Supreme Court rejected the “pretext plus” and “pretext only” approaches in favor of the “permissive pretext only” standard and held that it was permissible, but not mandatory, for the trier of fact to make an ultimate finding of intentional discrimination once the plaintiff has established pretext. St. Mary’s Honor Ctr., 509 U.S. at 511, 113 S.Ct. at 2742. This issue was further analyzed by the United States Supreme Court in Reeves. In Reeves, the court of appeals had assumed that a prima facie case of discrimination combined with sufficient evidence of pretext was “insufficient as a matter of law to sustain a jury’s finding of intentional discrimination.” Reeves, 530 U.S. at 146, 120 S.Ct. at 2108. The Supreme Court explained the court of appeals had misunderstood St. Mary’s Honor Center and explained its decision in that case:

There we held that the factfinder’s rejection of the employer’s legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its action does not compel judgment for the plaintiff. The ultimate question is whether the employer intentionally discriminated, and proof that “the employer’s proffered reason is unpersuasive, or even obviously contrived, does not necessarily establish that the plaintiffs proffered reason ... is correct.” In other words, “[i]t is not enough ... to dis believe the employer; the factfinder must believe the plaintiffs explanation of intentional discrimination.”
In reaching this conclusion, however, we reasoned that it is permissible for the trier of fact to infer the ultimate fact of discrimination from the falsity of the employer’s explanation.

Id. at 146-47, 120 S.Ct. at 2108 (citations omitted) (alterations in original). This Court has correctly construed this aspect of Reeves, explaining: “In other words, a plaintiffs prima facie case plus proof of a pretext may constitute sufficient evidence to survive a motion for a directed verdict.” Kentucky Dep’t of Corrs. v. McCullough, 123 S.W.3d 130, 134 (Ky.2003) (second emphasis added).

The Supreme Court in Reeves, after discussing the impact of the employer’s false explanation for the termination, went on to hold:

Thus, a plaintiffs prima facie case, combined with sufficient evidence to find that the employer’s asserted justification is false, may permit the trier of fact to conclude that the employer unlawfully discriminated.
This is not to say that such a showing by the plaintiff will always be adequate to sustain a jury’s finding of liability. Certainly there will be instances where, although the plaintiff has established a prima facie case and set forth sufficient evidence to reject the defendant’s explanation, no rational factfinder could conclude that the action was discriminatory. For instance, an employer would be entitled to judgment as a matter of law if the record conclusively revealed some other, nondiscriminatory reason for the employer’s decision, or if the plaintiff created only a weak issue of fact as to
whether the employer’s reason was untrue and there was abundant and uncon-troverted independent evidence that no discrimination had occurred. To hold otherwise would be effectively to insulate an entire category of employment discrimination cases from review under Rule 50, and we have reiterated that trial courts should not treat discrimination differently from other ultimate questions of fact.
Whether judgment as a matter of law is appropriate in any particular case will depend on a number of factors. Those include the strength of the plaintiffs prima facie case, the probative value of the proof that the employer’s explanation is false, and any other evidence that supports the employer’s case and that properly may be considered on a motion for judgment as a matter of law.

Reeves, 530 U.S. at 148-49, 120 S.Ct. at 2109 (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).

In Reeves, the Court concluded that the plaintiff had established a prima facie case and had “made a substantial showing” that the employer’s explanation was false. Id. at 142-44, 120 S.Ct. at 2106-07. However, in the present matter Williams has, at best, “created only a weak issue of fact as to whether the employer’s reason was untrue and there was abundant and uncon-troverted independent evidence that no discrimination had occurred.” Id. at 148, 120 S.Ct. at 2109 (emphasis added).

A review of the record demonstrates that the trial court misunderstood its role when addressing Wal-Mart’s motion for a directed verdict. At the conference to address the motion, the trial court characterized Williams’s claim as “a very weak case” and appeared to focus exclusively on whether she had established a prima facie case under the McDonnell Douglas framework. The trial court explained that “it is so easy to make a prima facie case in here, here we are stuck trying this case on age discrimination.” The appropriate inquiry, however, was not only whether a prima facie case had been established, but was instead whether there was sufficient evidence to permit a rational trier of fact to conclude that Wal-Mart had unlawfully discriminated against Williams because of her age. We conclude that there was not.

The record contains two important pieces of uneontroverted evidence that no discrimination occurred. First, Wal-Mart presented evidence of two employees under the age of forty who were fired for substantially the same reason as Williams, one for drinking an Icee and the other for drinking a soft drink, neither of which had been paid for. Second, and most important, the sole decisionmaker responsible for terminating Williams did not know how old she was.

It was undisputed that Joe Medina, the off-site loss prevention supervisor, made the decision to fire Williams. Additionally, there was no evidence offered that Medina had any knowledge of Williams’s age. Medina’s unrefuted testimony was, that at the time he made the decision to terminate Williams, he (i) had never seen her, (ii) did not know her age, and (iii) had never been told her age.

A thorough review of the trial record demonstrates that Williams’s theory of the case embraced the notion that Medina was the sole decisionmaker. Notably, Medina responded in the affirmative to the following questions from Williams’s counsel: (i) “And you were the one that made the decision to fire Linda Williams?”; and (ii) “Really, you were the man to make the decision?” Additionally, in his closing argument, Williams’s lawyer argued that Medina was the “culprit” and that “he made the call.” He further argued that the local Wal-Mart management staff were just following orders in dealing with Williams.

Considered together, and despite Williams’s weak showing of pretext, these facts show that Medina was solely responsible for Williams’s termination and that he did not know her age at the time he made that decision. Furthermore, there exists no evidence in the record which contradicts these conclusions. Consequently, we conclude that this case is one of those “instances where, although the plaintiff has established a prima facie case and set forth sufficient evidence to reject the defendant’s explanation, no rational factfinder could conclude that the action was discriminatory.” Reeves, 530 U.S. at 148, 120 S.Ct. at2109.

B. Designation of the Record

Finally, Williams argues that the Court of Appeals erred in allowing Wal-Mart’s appeal to proceed despite its failure to designate the record for appeal in accordance with CR 75.01. In support of this position, Williams cites a long line of now inapplicable Kentucky appellate cases demanding strict compliance with CR 75.01. In many of these cases parties suffered a dismissal of their claims for seemingly minor deviations from the rule.

Williams, however, ignores the fundamental change in our approach to problems of noncompliance that we explained in Ready v. Jamison, 705 S.W.2d 479 (Ky.1986). In that case, which was premised on a change to CR 73.02(2), we adopted a standard of substantial compliance. We stated, “[w]hile dismissal still may be appropriate where the breach of the rule and the harm to the opponent is sufficiently serious, under CR 73.02(2) the appellate court is charged with the burden of deciding the appropriate sanction on a case by case basis.” Id. at 482. Accordingly, we review the Court of Appeals’ denial of Williams’s motion to dismiss under an abuse of discretion standard.

Williams has not alleged that she was at all prejudiced by Wal-Mart’s failure to designate the record for appeal. Nor has she demonstrated that Wal-Mart’s breach was sufficiently serious such that dismissal was warranted. In short, she has not provided any reason, aside from her plea that we return to a regime of strict compliance, justifying this claim of error. Consequently, we find that the Court of Appeals did not abuse its discretion in denying her motion to dismiss Wal-Mart’s appeal.

IV. CONCLUSION

We are not called on to judge the wisdom of Wal-Mart’s decision to terminate Williams. Rather, our duty is to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding of age discrimination. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that no rational jury could have found that Williams was subjected to unlawful age discrimination. Therefore we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals.

All concur.

      . Subsequent to the trial of this matter, we held that (i) punitive damages are not an available remedy under KRS Chapter 344, Kentucky Dep’t of Corrs. v. McCullough, 123 S.W.3d 130, 138 (Ky.2003), and (ii) the trial court rather than the jury should determine the appropriateness and amount of front pay. See Brooks v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Hous. Auth., 132 S.W.3d 790, 806 (Ky.2004).

      . The evidence placed in the most favorable light to Williams demonstrates that she was forced to resign by Wal-Mart. Williams testified that she was threatened with jail if she did not voluntarily resign.

      . The opinion of the Court of Appeals focused on Medina’s role as the sole decisionmaker and concluded that his lack of knowledge of Williams’s age precluded any finding of pretext. While it would typically be appropriate to focus on the decisionmaker at that stage of the analysis, this case demands a different approach. Here there was specific evidence supporting Williams’s theory of pretext, namely that she had been given permission, or at least tacit approval, for the very conduct which eventually served as the basis for her dismissal. Her theory is even more credible given the fact that, although Wal-Mart contends Williams was in violation of company policy as early as October 5, she was not fired immediately for her infraction. In the end, the peculiar .facts of this case foreclose a finding that Williams failed to demonstrate pretext.

      . In addition to the pre-Ready decisions on which Williams relies, she also cites Commonwealth v. Roberts, 122 S.W.3d 524 (Ky.2003), in support of her position. In Roberts, this Court unanimously dismissed the appeal of a criminal defendant who had failed to comply with a Court of Appeals order that he provide transcripts of lower court proceedings designated under CR 75.01. Despite Williams’s suggestion to the contraiy, and notwithstanding our dismissal of the defendant's appeal, this case is in no way a return to that earlier line of decisions.


source: Caselaw Access Project

author: SCOTT, Justice. COOPER, Justice,

license: Public Domain

text:
    COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY Appellant, v. Lloyd A. PRIDDY Appellee.
    No. 2003-SC-000041-DG.
    Supreme Court of Kentucky.
    Dec. 22, 2005.
    Rehearing Denied March 23, 2006.

      Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General, Janine Coy Bowden, Assistant Attorney General, Frankfort, Counsel for Appellant.
    Donna Boyce, Appellate Branch Manager, Department of Public Advocacy, Frankfort, Counsel for Appellee.
   SCOTT, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

Appellee, Lloyd A. Priddy, sought to suppress the fruits of a search of his person by a police officer during the course of a stop of his vehicle. In denying the motion, the trial court made findings — which Appellee argues were contained only in the uniform citation issued by the officer — that the stop, and thus the search, was justified pursuant to Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). The citation had been filed in the court record and was used and referred to in the hearing by the parties and the court, but it was never formally filed as an exhibit to any record created for the hearing.

Not having been filed of record in the hearing, the Appellee argues the officer’s written statement in his citation could not be relied on for the court’s findings of facts.

Since the citation was used (and testified to) during the hearing, it was not error for the court to have considered its contents, even though, through fair inference, the officer’s actual testimony covered the same information.

Even so, the trial court’s ruling was correct since the information (personally given to the officer by a citizen in the area) was sufficient to support an “articulable suspicion” that criminal activity was afoot and thus justified the stop of the Appel-lee’s car and the subsequent search of his person. Where a citizen exposes himself to an officer, in a face-to-face meeting, who then has the opportunity to evaluate the citizen’s demeanor during the relay of the information, further “predictive evaluation” of the information is not an absolute requirement, as a citizen is not evaluated as a “confidential informant or anonymous tipster.”

II. BACKGROUND

In the evening of September 4, 1999, Officer Michael R. Koenig was traveling on the Outer Loop in Louisville en route to a domestic disturbance on Third Street, when he was flagged down by a citizen who told him a six foot tall, 170 pound white male with shoulder-length, black, curly hair, driving a late 1970s model black Ford truck with primer on the hood — was in the K-mart parking lot on 191 Outer Loop and was about to conduct a drug transaction. Officer Koenig then immediately left the citizen and proceeded to the K-mart parking lot, which was only a few minutes away, and observed the vehicle and male driver exactly as described and, as he testified, “confirmed my information from the informant.” Appellee however, argues that the actual testimony from Officer Koenig established only that when he arrived the vehicle was exiting the parking lot.

Officer Koenig then followed and stopped the vehicle and noted Appellee’s frantic movement in the vehicle and once backup arrived, asked the Appellee to exit his truck. Upon observing and inquiring about a large bulge in Appellee’s front pants pocket, the Appellee stated it was a crack pipe, which Officer Koenig then took possession of. After recovering the pipe and noting the residue therein, Appellee was arrested. A subsequent search of Ap-pellee’s pockets revealed methamphetamine in a cigarette package.

Appellee pled guilty to First-Degree Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and No Motor Vehicle Insurance. He also admitted to being a Second-Degree Persistent Felony Offender and received an enhanced five-year sentence on the Possession of a Controlled Substance charge. The misdemeanor charges, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and No Motor Vehicle Insurance ran concurrently with the felony charge for a total sentence of five years imprisonment.

Appellee’s guilty plea was conditioned on his right to appeal the denial of his suppression motion, in which he had argued that the crack pipe and methamphetamine should be suppressed because the stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights. He contended that the initial corroboration of only his description and location, provided by the “tipster,” did not provide Officer Koenig with a “reasonable and articulable suspicion” that criminal activity was afoot.

The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s denial of the motion to suppress as based on clearly erroneous factual findings, finding that in reaching its decision, the trial court relied on statements in the uniform citation, which had not been offered, or admitted, into evidence. The Court of Appeals further reasoned that without reference to the citation, there was insufficient evidence to support a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot. We granted discretionary review on the Commonwealth’s Petition.

III. ANALYSIS

A. TRIAL COURT’S RELIANCE ON CITATION

When reviewing the outcome of a suppression hearing regarding a warrantless search, this Court employs the standard of review enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996).

[A]s a general matter determinations of reasonable suspicion and probable cause should be reviewed de novo on appeal. Having said this, we hasten to point out that a reviewing court should take care both to review findings of historical fact only for clear error and to give due weight to inferences drawn from those facts by resident judges and local law enforcement officers. Id. at 699, 116 S.Ct. at 1663 (cited with approval in Commonwealth v. Whitmore, 92 S.W.3d 76 (Ky.2002)).

“The Ornelas court recognized that police may draw inferences illegal activity from facts that may appear innocent to a lay person and that a reviewing court should give due weight to the assessment by the trial court of the credibility of the officer and the reasonableness of the inference.” Commonwealth v. Whitmore, 92 S.W.3d 76, 79 (Ky.2002).

At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial judge made oral findings and announced her ruling from the bench. Her findings of fact indicate that she relied upon Officer Koenig’s observation of Ap-pellee meeting with another individual in the K-mart parking lot as the determinative “predictive behavior” she felt necessary to support a reasonable suspicion:

‘Well, I certainly understand Mr. Conkin why you cited that case and I think it’s something that I have to take into consideration. The Florida v. J.L. [529 U.S. 266, 120 S.Ct. 1375, 146 L.Ed.2d 254 (2000) ] case involved a tip that there would be a black male at a bus stop wearing a plaid shirt and that he had a gun on him. As I read the case that was basically what they were told and the officer went to the bus stop and there was a black male there with a plaid shirt on and he stopped and frisked him and indeed he did have a gun on him.
This case has more detail from the beginning. First, it involves a vehicle that was carefully described as a late 70s black Ford truck, primer on the hood. There was a description of the male as a white male subject six feet tall, I think 150 to 170 pounds is what you said. I didn’t get all the poundage written down, but shoulder length hair. That there would be a narcotics transaction at the Kmart parking lot at 191 Outer Loop. So this officer goes and is in the Winn Dixie parking lot and sees a vehicle matching that description and also sees him leaving the location after meeting up with another subject. So, by his own observation, he saw something that could indeed be the narcotics transaction. (Emphasis added).
I think that had he driven to the parking lot and simply seen the truck, even though it’s more detailed than it was in the Supreme Court case, Florida v. J.L., I might be inclined to agree with you, Mr. Conkin, if he just saw the truck and followed the truck and stopped. But his testimony was that he observed him leaving the location after he had met up with another person and then he followed him and he stopped him and I think that that was appropriate, and then the frantic behavior was enough to certainly add to the reasonable suspicion that he had for the stop in the first instance ...
So, it’s a closer call than I see sometimes, because I think somebody gives a description and you find someone at that point and place described that meets the description, I think you are most of the way there. But I think it’s this added factor that’s reflected in his report and it was in his testimony about meeting up with another subject there that pushes it over the line from what we had in Florida, which was just an individual at a bus stop wearing a plaid shirt. It wasn’t a very detailed description and there was nothing to pair with, besides his actual presence. (Emphasis added).
Here we had the presence of a truck, a person driving that truck that fit exactly and then the presence of another subject with whom the narcotics transaction could be conducted. So, accounting for all those factors and the cases that have been decided, I’m going to overrule the motion to suppress.” (Emphasis added).

“[T]he police can stop and briefly detain a person for investigative purposes if the officer has a reasonable suspicion supported by articulable facts that criminal activity ‘may be afoot,’ even if the officer lacks probable cause.” United Stated v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989). As such, “[t]he issue is a preliminary question to be decided by the trial judge, KRE 104(a) ....” Cf. Talbott v. Commonwealth, 968 S.W.2d 76, 82 (Ky.1998).

All would agree that Officer Koenig’s statement in his traffic citation that “officer went to above location and subject matching description was just leaving that location after meeting up with another subject,” would be sufficient “predictive behavior” to justify the Terry stop in this case, even under Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 120 S.Ct. 1375, 146 L.Ed.2d 254 (2000); see also, Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 332, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990).

However, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court on the grounds that the “citation” was not made a part of the “record” — thus, concluding, there was no substantial evidence in the record to support the trial court’s finding that Officer Koenig “observed Priddy leaving the location after meeting up with another subject .... ” What this argument overlooks though, is that the citation was used by the parties during the hearing, as well as, having then been reviewed by the court from its record.

In this regard, KRE 104(a) provides “preliminary questions concerning ... the admissibility of evidence shall be determined by the court .... In making its determination it is not bound by the rules of evidence, except those with respect to privileges.” See also, KRE 1101(d)(1). RCr 8.22 also provides that “pretrial motions raising defenses or objections shall be determined before trial .... All other issues of fact shall be determined by the court with, or without, a jury, or on affidavits, or in such other manner as the court may direct.” We can assume that the Commonwealth had a copy of the officer’s citation at the suppression hearing, but it is known from the video record that the officer, counsel for the Appellee, and the court had a copy and used it.

In fact, Appellee’s counsel perused the citation at the hearing in an attempt to impeach Officer Koenig (per KRE 613(a)), as to the time of the arrest and the Miranda warnings.

“Q: Do you have a copy of your citation right handy?
A: Yes I do.
Q: You stated...I assume you wrote the citation, is that correct?
A: That’s correct.”

Under KRE 613(a), it is necessary to establish that the statement was written by the officer. “Before other evidence can be offered of the witness having made at another time a different statement, he must be inquired of concerning it ...; and, if it be in writing, it must be shown to the witness, with opportunity to explain it.” Thus, here the Appellee referenced it, confirmed its creation and authenticity, and asked questions from it for purposes of impeachment. A practitioner would expect the court, which had a copy in its record, to review the “citation” in conjunction with its reference and use in the proceedings, especially once it had been authenticated.

Even aside from the applicability of KRE 104, this court has approved the use of interrogatory answers, not filed as exhibits, as a basis for a trial court’s judgment, where the trial was by the court. See Mid-Southern Toyota, Ltd. v. Bug’s Imports, Inc., 453 S.W.2d 544 (Ky.1970), wherein it stated:

“They refer to Clay, CR 33... and Clay, CR 36.01, ..., as authority for the proposition that admissions and answers to the interrogatories must be introduced in evidence. The latter comment states only that admissions ‘should be’ introduced in evidence, and the former comment states only that answers to interrogatories would not constitute judicial admissions unless introduced in evidence. Clearly, in the case of a jury trial, admissions and answers to interrogatories would not be evidence unless introduced as such, and normally it would seem the same should be true in case of a trial by the court without a jury. However, in the latter case the formal admission in evidence really has no significant purpose so as long as the parties know the court intends to consider the admissions or answers as evidence, and the parties are afforded the opportunity to make objections of inadmissibility.” Id. at 550, (emphasis added).

Similarly, although we agree it would be better procedure, we can find no rule that compels the parties, or the court, to create a record of “exhibits” in an RCr 8.22 hearing in front of the court. RCr 8.22 only requires “a verbatim record ... of all proceedings .... ” See also, KRE 104(a). Which it did in this case. Moreover, the trial court twice, in its discussions and oral ruling (in open court with counsel present) referred to the facts as contained in the report and no objection to this incorporation was made at any time, such that the trial court could have clarified whether, in fact, the court was referring to the citation, or a finding from the officer’s testimony that he had “confirmed my information from the informant.” “It has long been the law of this Commonwealth that an error would not be reviewed on appeal if the trial court has not had an opportunity to rule on the objection. RCr 9.22 and KRE 108(a)(1).” Commonwealth v. Petrey, 945 S.W.2d 417, 419 (Ky.1997).

Thus, aside from the actual testimony of Officer Koenig, the court could have properly considered comments directly from the citation. This is what KRE 104(a) is about, as well as KRE 1101(d)(1) and RCr 8.22. Evidence is what a court is told, knows, sees, or perceives, formally in open court. Exhibits are what are filed in a trial, and by such, become part of the record on appeal. And where there is no objection, as here, in a video proceeding, KRE 104(a) is dispositive. “This means that the judge can bring to bear on those questions evidence that might not be admissible at trial — hearsay without worry about hearsay rules, opinion without concern about opinion rules, documents without concern about the best evidence, etc. There is good reason for this approach .... ” Lawson, The Kentucky Evidence Law Handbook 4th Ed., § 6(a), p. 62 KRE 104(a) findings, however, must be supported and based upon, “substantive evidence.” Cf. Talbott v. Commonwealth, 968 S.W.2d 76, 82 (Ky.1998), subject to the further caveat, that counsel are aware of what evidence the court is relying on. Cf. Mid-Southern Toyota, Ltd at 550.

The dissent cites many cases from Kentucky, and other jurisdictions, which say that documents not introduced into evidence, may not be considered by the court. These cases support that holding, but only at trial, and most often, in a jury setting. Several of the cases refer only to the “appellate record on appeal” in reference to documents absent therefrom, or added later, in briefs. These holdings do not address questions presented in a pre-trial suppression hearing under KRE 104(a).

B. OFFICER KOENIG’S TESTIMONY

Aside from consideration of the citation, Officer Koenig testified that when he entered the parking lot, he observed the suspect vehicle and suspect, “and confirmed my information from the informant.” The citizen giving the information had flagged him down on the street near the site and informed him of the “drug deal to go down in the parking lot.”

Just prior to this “confirmation testimony,” the officer’s questions and answers were:

“Q: Is that all the information that you received?
A: I received that they would be in the parking lot of 191 Outer loop selling to an unknown subject out of that vehicle.
Q: Did they give you a time or did they say that they were there right now?
A: That they were there as we spoke.”

In his answer to the very next question, he testified “and confirmed my information from the informant.” “[W]e hasten to point out that a reviewing court should take care both to review findings of historical fact only for clear error and to give due weight to inferences drawn from those facts by resident judges and local law enforcement officers just.” Ornelas at 699, 116 S.Ct. at 1663. Preliminary questions of fact are to be determined by the trial judge, whose factual findings are conclusive where supported by substantial evidence. Talbott at 82.

Were we disposed to hold, as did the Court of Appeals, that Officer Koenig’s observation of “Priddy leaving the location after meeting with another subject,” was in fact necessary to meet the “predictive behavior” test required for reliance on a citizen’s tip — it is our opinion there was testimony of such properly before the court. It was there for proper consideration from (1) the citation perused and authenticated by the Appellee’s counsel in examination at the hearing and available to the court from its own record and (2) through fair inference, Officer Koenig testified to this fact when, having already recited the fact of this observation as given to him from the informant, he testified he “confirmed my information from the informant.”

C. .FINDINGS OF “REASONABLE ARTICULABLE SUSPICION”

Even aside from the resolution of the issues in sections A and B, the facts before the trial court supported a “reasonable articulable suspicion” that a drug transaction was about to occur.

In arriving at its conclusion, the Court of Appeals failed to consider the different levels of reliability between tips from a “confidential informant or anonymous tipster” versus that of a citizen, who personally approaches an officer to give information about ongoing criminal activity.

“[T]ips, like all other clues and evidence coming to a policeman on the scene, may vary greatly in their value and reliability. One simple rule will not cover every situation. Some tips, completely lacking in indicia of reliability, would either warrant no police response, or require farther investigation, before a forcible stop of a suspect would be authorized. But in some situations — for example, when a victim of a street crime seeks immediate police aid and gives a description of his assailant, or when a credible informant warns of a specific pending crime—the subtleties of the hearsay rule should not thwart an appropriate police response.” Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 147, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972).

One who personally comes forward to give information that was immediately verifiable at the scene may carry sufficient indicia of reliability to justify a stop and would be a much stronger case than an anonymous phone tip. Id. at 146, 147, 92 S.Ct. 1921. See also, United States v. Christmas, 222 F.3d 141, 144 (4th Cir.2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1098, 121 S.Ct. 830, 148 L.Ed.2d 712 (2001). (Held that tipster, who failed to give her name, but gave the police her home address, was not an anonymous tipster and that face-to-face informants are generally more rehable than anonymous telephone tipsters).

In its analysis of the trial court’s finding that the circumstances related by Officer Koenig in the case at hand did not articulate a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot, the Court of Appeals relied on Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 120 S.Ct., 1375, 146 L.Ed.2d 254 (2000). In J.L., the tip came through a phone call made from an unknown location by an unknown caller. “Unlike a tip from a known informant whose reputation can be assessed and who can be held responsible if their allegations turn out to be fabricated, an anonymous tip alone seldom demonstrates the informant’s basis of knowledge or veracity .... ” Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 329, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990); J.L. at 270, 120 S.Ct. 1375.

However, “[a] face-to-face encounter provides police officers the opportunity to perceive and evaluate personally an informant’s mannerisms, expressions, and tone of voice (and thus, to assess the informant’s veracity more readily than can be done from a purely anonymous telephone tip). In person communications also tend to be more reliable because, having revealed one’s physical appearance and location, the informant knows that she can be tracked down and held accountable, if her assertions prove inaccurate. Finally, a face-to-face encounter often provides a window into an informant’s represented basis of knowledge; for example, his physical presence at or near the scene of the reported events can confirm that she acquired her information through first-hand observation.” United States v. Romain, 393 F.3d 63, 73-74 (1st Cir.2004)(internal citations omitted). In Romain, the call came into the 911 emergency operator from a woman who explained she was visiting with her friend and that someone had come in with a gun. When the operator inquired whether the woman was placing the call surreptitiously, the woman asked that the call be traced. The police then responded, whereat, the woman again covertly indicated to the officers that another person was inside the apartment and armed. Her identity, however, was unknown until after the search of the person indicated turned up the weapon complained of. In concluding the search was valid, the court stated “[h]ere, the officers had in-person contacts ..., and those contacts, although limited, allowed them to gauge her veracity and to make some informed assessment of the reliability of the tip_” Romain at 73-74. “The informant here was not ‘anonymous’ as the J.L. Court had employed that term and the information was not, as in J.L., a tip that had no diseernable basis.” Id. at 74.

In United States v. Sierra-Hernandez, 581 F.2d 760 (9th Cir.1978), a border patrol agent was approached by a man, described in the record only as wearing farmer’s overalls and a baseball cap and driving a late-model brown Mercedes Benz. The man then pointed to a black pickup truck proceeding parallel on a road about 100 yards away and told the officer the black pickup truck had just loaded with weed at the canebreak. Without asking the unidentified man for his name, or for any other information, the agent immediately radioed for assistance and followed the black pickup, stopped it and discovered the marijuana. In commenting upon the identity of the person giving the information, the court acknowledged “[mjoreover, although the informant did not identify himself by name, he would have been available for further questioning if the agent had judged the procedure appropriate. Unlike a person who makes an anonymous telephone call, this informant confronted the agent directly. By thus presenting himself to the agent, and doing so while driving a car from which his identity might easily be traced, the informant was in a position to be held accountable for his intervention. The reliability of the information was thus increased.” Sierra-Hernandez at 763. The court also noted the timely nature of the information, required the agent to immediately leave the informant’s presence, radio for assistance and set off in pursuit. Id.

In United States v. Christmas, 222 F.3d 141 (4th Cir.2000), the intoxicated woman approached officers who were then in her neighborhood, gave them her residence address, but not her name, and told them “you need to come and deal with the drugs and the guns that those guys have on the porch two doors down from me.” Id. at 148. Reacting, to the information given, the officers approached the individuals indicated, did a pat-down search and found weapons. After the arrest, a more thorough search revealed a large amount- of crack cocaine and marijuana. In upholding the search, the court noted, “unlike the anonymous tipster, a witness who directly approaches a police officer can also be held accountable for false statements. As the Supreme Court has observed, citizens who personally report crimes to the police thereby make themselves accountable for lodging false complaints.” Id. at 144, citing Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 233-234, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983); Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 147 & n. 2, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972).

In United States v. Heard, 367 F.3d 1275 (11th Cir.2004), the officer responded to a location where a fight was in progress. As the officer responded, he observed a woman yelling at the defendant and demanding fifty dollars. At the officer’s suggestion, the defendant paid the woman the fifty dollars. However, just as the woman, whose name and address was unknown, was leaving the scene, she told the officers the defendant was carrying a gun. She then jumped on an arriving train and left the scene anonymously. Nevertheless, to protect his own safety and the safety of the train station patrons, the officer placed the defendant in handcuffs and did a Terry frisk. During the pat-down, a weapon was discovered and the defendant was later indicted for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In upholding the reasonableness of the search, the court noted “[a] face-to-face anonymous tip is presumed to be inherently móre rehable than an anonymous telephone tip because the officers receiving the information have an opportunity to observe the demeanor and perceived credibility of the informant.” Heard at 1279, citing United States v. Valentine, 232 F.3d 350, 354 (3rd Cir.2000).

In United States v. Hopes, 286 F.3d 788, 789-790 (5th Cir.2002), the court noted “in the instant case the tip was not anonymous but, rather, was given by Robinson, an individual who had operated the halfway house for many years and was well known to the officers who had dealt reliably with her many times. Unlike the unknown, unaccountable tipster in Florida v. J.L., Robinson personally summoned and met the police officers face-to-face, and could be held accountable if the tip proved to be fabricated.” Hopes at 789-790.

“Courts are not required to sever the relationships that the citizens and local police forces have forged to protect their communities from crime. [Appellee] argues for a rule that comes close to disqualifying face-to-face discussions with residents as a basis for a Terry stop and frisk. To rule out such conversations as a basis for reasonable suspicion would be a serious step. A community might quickly succumb to a sense of helplessness if police were constitutionally prevented from responding to the face-to-face pleas of neighborhood residents for assistance. Officers are entitled to investigate such reports without jeopardizing their personal safety. Any other constitutional rule would destroy the basis for effective community police work.” Christmas at 145.

In this instance, officer Koenig was stopped and flagged down on the street by a citizen and given information that a nar-cotíes transaction was occurring, right then, in the K-Mart parking lot several minutes away. The officer was given an accurate description of the dealer and his vehicle and told they were there as they spoke. The alleged site of the drug transaction being several minutes away, one would have to concede that the failure to get the name and address of the citizen was understandable, given the timely nature of the information along with the common knowledge that it doesn’t take long to conduct a drug transaction.

Next, and even viewing the evidence as argued by Appellee, officer Koe-nig arrived on the scene and immediately spotted the person and vehicle described just moments before. As the vehicle was then exiting the K-Mart parking lot, according to Appellee’s version (where the transaction was supposed to have taken place), he followed and blue-lighted the Appellee. After activating the blue lights, but before approaching the vehicle, he noticed the apparent frantic activity of the Appellee inside his vehicle indicating concealment activity. Indeed, “a brief stop of a suspicious individual, in order to determine his identity, or to maintain the status quo momentarily, while obtaining more information, may be most reasonable in light of the facts known to the officer at the time.” Williams at 146, 92 S.Ct. 1921. And, “[r]easonable suspicion, while depen-dant upon the ‘totality of the circumstances,’ including both the content of the information and its reliability, ‘can arise from information that is less reliable than that required to show probable cause.’” Heard at 1278. (Internal citations omitted).

Even viewing the evidence as argued by the Appellee, we believe Officer Koenig’s stop of the Appellee was based upon “reasonable and articuable suspicions that criminal activity was afoot.”

Officer Koenig was flagged down on the street and approached by a citizen who gave him the information, including the necessity of responding quickly. It was under circumstances where Officer Koenig could assess the demeanor of the person giving the information and make his own judgment, as to that person’s credibility. Additionally, the person giving the information undertook the risk that the officer, having spoken with her, could recognize her and identify her at a later time thus, subjecting her to various penalties, should the information been proven to be untrue. See KRS 519.040(l)(2nd), “Falsely Reporting an Incident.”

Once the response of the officer validated the description of the Appellee and the vehicle, this added credibility to the information, as well as the fact that it was at the location suggested. Thus, even limiting the evidence as argued by the Appellee, he was then leaving the vicinity of the parking lot where it was reported the alleged criminal activity would have occurred. Then, factoring this into an officer’s knowledge that it doesn’t take a long time to do a drug deal, this had been consistent with the fact that by the time he responded from the location where he was notified of the activity, to its actual location, the deal might have been completed and the Appellee would be leaving the transaction area. Finally, once stopped, the Appellee’s vehicle was not approached; nor was the Appellee asked to exit the vehicle, until after Officer Koenig had also witnessed the frantic activity of the Appel-lee in his vehicle, suggesting he was then hiding something. “A court inquiring into the validity of a Terry stop must use a wide lens and survey the totality of the circumstances.” Sokolow, 490 U.S. at 8, 109 S.Ct. 1581.

Thus, considering the “totality of the circumstances,” we believe Officer Koenig had “reasonable and articuable suspicion of criminal activities afoot,” sufficient to justify his search in this instance, even limiting the evidence as argued by Appellee.

For the forgoing reasons, the opinion of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and Ap-pellee’s judgment and sentence are reinstated.

GRAVES, JOHNSTONE, ROACH, WINTERSHEIMER, JJ., concur.

COOPER, J., dissents by separate opinion, with LAMBERT,. C.J., joining that dissent.

COOPER, Justice,

dissenting.

Appellee, Lloyd A Priddy, entered a conditional plea of guilty, RCr 8.09, to possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, a Class D felony, KRS 218A.1415; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor, KRS 218A500; owning or operating a motor vehicle without insurance, a misdemeanor, KRS 304.39-080(5), KRS 304.99-060; arid persistent felony offender in the second degree, KRS 532.080(2). He was sentenced to an enhanced term of five years in prison. His convictions were premised entirely upon evidence obtained by Officers Michael Koenig and J. Bailey of the Jefferson County Police Department during a Terry stop of Appellee’s vehicle at the intersection of New Cut and Outer Loop Roads on September 4, 1999. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). Appellee moved to suppress the evidence on grounds that Koenig had no legal basis for stopping him, thus the evidence obtained during the search of his person and his vehicle was the “fruit of the poisonous tree.” Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488, 83 S.Ct. 407, 417, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). Following a fifteen-minute suppression hearing, the trial court overruled the motion. The Court of Appeals reversed. The majority of this Court has concluded that the Court of Appeals’ decision was in error. Because I conclude otherwise, I dissent and would affirm the Court of Appeals.

I. SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.

RCr 9.78 provides, inter alia:

If at any time before trial a defendant moves to suppress ... the fruits of a search, ... the trial court shall conduct an evidentiary hearing outside the presence of the jury and at the conclusion thereof shall enter into the record findings resolving the essential issues of fact raised by the motion or objection and necessary to support the ruling. If supported by substantial evidence the factual findings of the trial court shall be conclusive.

(Emphasis added.)

In response to the trial court’s order for a bill of particulars, RCr 6.22, the prosecutor filed in the record the following description of the events leading to Appel-lee’s arrest:

On September 4,1999 at approximately 2100 hours, at 191 Outerloop [sic] Road in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Officers received information that the defendant was at 191 Outerloop [sic] Road on the lot of K-Mart, driving a 70’s model black Ford pick-up with primer on front part of truck. Through investigation, the defendant matching the description operating a late 70’s model Ford pick-up truck with primer was leaving 191 Outerloop parking lot. Officer conducted a stop and observed the defendant moving in the vehicle, in a frantic behavior. The defendant was asked to exit the vehicle, for a pat down for weapons. Officer J. Bailey conducted the pat-down and both observed and felt a bulge in front of pants. The defendant produced a crack pipe wrapped in a red rag. The defendant stated to Officer Bailey that he had some crank in his pants. The defendant was miran-dized [sic] and placed into custody. Officer Koenig found Marlboro box which contained a large piece of suspected crank packaged for sale.
Witnesses for the Commonwealth include but are not limited to: Jefferson City [sic] Police Department Officer R. [sic] Koenig, Officer S. [sic] Bailey; Metro Narcotics Unit; Det. F. Kron, Det. P. Ray, Det. D. Mahaffey, Sgt. D. Puckett, Sgt. D. Hogue.
The Commonwealth hereby gives notice of intent to call an expert witness in the field of narcotics should this case proceed to trial.

Note that the bill of particulars does not mention either an alleged narcotics transaction or a meeting between Appellee and another person. Nor does it identify the source of the “information” or indicate that the identity and location of the source was obtained or known by the Commonwealth.

The only witness at the suppression hearing was Officer Koenig. He testified as follows on direct examination by the prosecutor:

Q: Thank you. I want to draw your attention to that day. Do you recall conducting an investigation against a Mr. Lloyd Priddy?
A: Yes, ma’am. I do.
Q: Can you tell the court how that investigation began?
A: Yes, ma’am. I was traveling westbound on the Outer Loop approaching Third Street in my patrol car responding to a domestic violence run on Third Street when I was waived down by a subject and I pulled off to the side. That subject then advised me that there was going to be a narcotic transaction going on in the parking lot at K-Mart at 191 Outer Loop Road involving a late 70s Ford pickup truck, black in color with the hood of the truck primered, with an occupant who is approximately six feet, 150, 170 pounds with black, curly hair, shoulder length, operating the vehicle.
Q: Did that person tell you what type of narcotics were being sold from that location?
A: No he didn’t.
Q: And what was the information that you received regarding the narcotics, exactly? That that person would be in possession of them, or—
A: That that person would be selling the narcotics.
Q: But they didn’t specify what kind?
A: No ma’am.
Q: Is that all the information that you received?
A: I received that they would be in the parking lot of 191 Outer Loop selling to an unknown subject out of that vehicle.
Q: Did they give you a time or did they say that they were there right now?
A: That they were there as we spoke.
Q: And what did you do based on that information?
A: I then went eastbound on Outer Loop approaching the Winn Dixie parking lot, which sits right next to the K-Mart, just west of the K-Mart on Outer Loop. I entered the parking lot to the Winn Dixie which is an adjoining parking lot with the K-Mart and drove slowly through the parking lot and I was riding through the K-Mart parking lot and- observed a late 70s model Ford pickup truck, black in color, with a prim-ered hood, with a white male subject with black, curly hair, shoulder length, operating it, and confirmed my information from the informant.
Q: Did you see any narcotics being sold from that vehicle?
A: No, ma’am.
Q: What did you do when you saw the truck?
A: When I saw the vehicle, the vehicle was approaching the New Cut road exiting the parking lot.
Q: And what did you do?
A: I activated my emergency equipment and called for a backup car.
Q: Did Mr. Priddy stop when you activated your emergency equipment?
A. Yes, he did. The traffic stop was conducted at the intersection of New Cut and Outer Loop Roads.

(Emphasis added.)

Officer Koenig then described observing Appellee making frantic movements inside the vehicle as he (Koenig) waited for his back-up officer (Bailey) to arrive. When Appellee got out of the truck, Koenig noticed a large bulge in the area of Appel-lee’s groin which was subsequently determined to be a crack pipe. When asked if he was in possession of any other narcotics, Appellee responded that he had some “crack” in his pants. A subsequent search revealed a Marlboro cigarette package containing a controlled substance.

Koenig never claimed that he saw Ap-pellee meet with another person in the K-Mart parking lot or even that another person was in the parking lot. In fact, when he first saw Appellee’s vehicle, it was in the process of exiting the parking lot, and the actual stop was made at the intersection of New Cut and Outer Loop Roads. Much is made in the majority opinion about the information elicited by Appel-lee’s counsel during his three-minute cross-examination of Koenig. Because I agree that the repeated references to Koe-nig’s police report are significant, I have included the following transcript of the entirety of that cross-examination:

Q. Officer Koenig, do you have a copy of your citation there handy?
A. Yes, Ido.
Q. You stated — I assume you wrote the citation. Is that correct?
A. That is correct.
Q. You talk about the information that you received and about pulling over the truck that Mr. Priddy was operating. You said that he moved about, and when he came out, he had a bulge in his groin area. Is that correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Then it says, you all observed a large bulge in front of the pants, subject was placed in custody and “Mirandized.”
A. When we observed the large bulge in his pants, he was escorted ....
Q. [Interrupting] Did you place him in custody at that time — arrest him?
A. No, sir. We actually removed the pipe from his pants and determined that it was a crack pipe with residue in it. At that point, he was placed in custody.
Q. I don’t think ... maybe I missed it about the crack pipe. I don’t see it listed here in that sequence when I was listening to your testimony a moment ago. I know it says a pipe was found but I didn’t realize it was found at that time. It was found before any crack or anything?
A. Yes. The pipe was found prior. And that’s when Lloyd Priddy stated, when we asked him if he had any other narcotics on his person. He stated that he did have crack in his pants and that’s when he was placed in custody and “Mirandized” — and we took him to the station.
Q. How long would you say you sat there waiting for your back-up before you got Mr. Priddy out of his vehicle?
A. My back-up caught up at the intersection I was at in maybe ten to twenty seconds.
Q. OK, so he was right there? No further questions.

As we recently held in Collins v. Commonwealth, 142 S.W.3d 113 (Ky.2004):

In order to perform an investigatory stop of an automobile, there must exist a reasonable and articulable suspicion that a violation of the law is occurring. Complications arise when, as here, the information serving as the sole basis of the officer’s suspicion is provided by an anonymous informant, whose veracity, reputation, and basis of knowledge cannot be readily assessed. In situations such as these, we are required to examine the totality of the circumstances, and to determine whether the tip, once suitably corroborated, provides sufficient in-dicia of reliability to justify an investigatory stop.

Id. at 115 (citations omitted). As in Collins, Appellee’s motion to suppress is governed by the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990), and Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 120 S.Ct. 1375, 146 L.Ed.2d 254 (2000).

In White, the anonymous tipster told police that a woman would leave a specified apartment in a certain vehicle at a particular time and that she would be carrying cocaine and going to a designated motel. The police observed the described woman leaving the apartment building, entering the vehicle, and driving toward the motel. The police stopped the vehicle and later discovered cocaine in her purse. 496 U.S. at 327, 110 S.Ct. at 2414-15. The Court upheld the stop because it was supported by predictive information, i.e., the tipster not only provided information readily available to a third party, i.e., the description of the woman and her vehicle, but also accurately predicted the future behavior of the woman, ie., that she would drive toward the motel. Id. at 331-32, 110 S.Ct. at 2416-17. Corroboration by the police of those predictions gave the tip sufficient credibility to justify the stop. Id. at 332, 110 S.Ct. at 2417.

In Florida v. J.L., the police received an anonymous tip stating that a young, black male wearing a plaid shirt and standing at a particular bus stop was carrying a gun. The tipster gave no information predictive of J.L.’s future conduct. Soon after, two officers arrived at the named bus stop and found J.L., a young black male who was wearing a plaid shirt and standing with two other males. The officers made a Terry stop, frisked J.L., and found a gun. 529 U.S. at 268, 120 S.Ct. at 1377-78. The Court held that the search was unlawful since the anonymous tip lacked sufficient indicia of reliability upon which to base a reasonable suspicion. Id. at 271-274, 120 S.Ct. at 1379-80.

One purpose of the “anonymous tipster” rule is to preclude a tipster from making a false accusation to the police for the purpose of harassing or exacting revenge against the person accused. United States v. Christmas, 222 F.3d 141, 144 (4th Cir.2000). The evidence presented at Appel-lee’s suppression hearing was similar to the facts presented in J.L. The tip accurately described Appellee and his vehicle— information available to anyone in a position to observe. The tipster’s only predictive information was that Appellee was selling narcotics to another person. This information, however, unlike the tip in White, was not corroborated. Koenig did not witness a drug transaction or even see another person in the K-Mart parking lot. Although he found a cigarette package containing a controlled substance on Ap-pellee’s person, he did not testify to finding any money which might have been the proceeds of a narcotics sale.

Nevertheless, the trial court overruled the suppression motion, distinguishing this case from Florida v. J.L. as follows:

This case has more detail from the beginning. First, it involves a vehicle that was carefully described as a late 70s black Ford truck, primer on the hood. There was a description of the male as a white male subject six feet tall, I think 150 to 170 pounds is what you said. I didn’t get all the poundage written down, but shoulder length hair. That there would be a narcotics transaction at the K-Mart parking lot at 191 Outer Loop. So this officer goes and is in the Winn Dixie parking lot and sees a vehicle matching that description and also sees him leaving the location after meeting up with another subject. So, by his own observation, he saw something that could indeed be the narcotics transaction.
I think that had he driven to the parking lot and simply seen the truck, even though it’s more detailed than it was in the Supreme Court case, Florida v. J.L., I might be inclined to agree with you, Mr. Conkin, if he just saw the truck and followed the truck and stopped. But his testimony was that he observed him leaving the location after he had met up with another person and then he followed him and he stopped him and I think that that was appropriate, and then the frantic behavior was enough to certainly add to the reasonable suspicion that he had for the stop in the first instance.
So, it’s a closer call than I see sometimes, because I think somebody gives a description and you find someone at that point and place described that meets the description, I think you are most of the way there. But I think it’s this added factor that’s reflected in his report and it was in his testimony about meeting up with another subject there that pushes it over the line from what we had in Florida, which was just an individual at a bus stop wearing a plaid shirt. It wasn’t a very detailed description and there was nothing to pair with, besides his actual presence.
Here we had the presence of a truck, a person driving that truck that fit exactly and then the presence of another subject with whom the narcotics transaction could be conducted. So, accounting for all those factors and the cases that have been decided, I’m going to overrule the motion to suppress.

(Emphasis added.)

Of course, there was no evidence introduced and no claim made during the evi-dentiary hearing that Koenig observed Ap-pellee meeting with another person in the parking lot or that there was “another subject with whom the narcotics transaction could be conducted.” Officer Koenig did not so testify and specifically denied having observed a narcotics transaction. Nor did the prosecutor claim the existence of such evidence during her oral argument on the motion. She only argued that the informant’s accurate description of Appel-lee and his vehicle and the allegation that Appellee was selling drugs to another person justified the Terry stop. So why did the trial court make a finding of fact that Koenig observed Appellee meeting with another person?

As can be seen by viewing the videotape of the suppression hearing, the trial court was engaged in reading the clerk’s record during Koenig’s testimony. A police report found at page 18 of that record and purportedly signed by “M. Koenig” contains a notation that “Officer went to above location and subject matching description was just leaving that location after meeting up with another subject.” (Emphasis added.) Obviously, the trial court based her crucial finding of fact that Koenig observed Appellee “meeting up with another subject” in the parking lot on the statement contained in that report and upon her mistaken belief that she had heard Koenig make the same statement during his testimony.

The police report upon which the trial court relied is filed in the clerk’s record along with other documents that were obviously part of the original district court record, e.g., criminal history record, fingerprint card, district court docket sheet, district court case jacket. Contrary to the assertion in the majority opinion, ante, at 506, Koenig did not testify that he prepared that report or that it was the same report that he was holding in his hand during the suppression hearing. On several occasions, defense counsel directed Koenig’s attention to the latter report; yet, Koenig never mentioned the crucial fact of a meeting between Appellee and another person in the parking lot. He did not introduce the report from which he was testifying into evidence or identify it as a copy of the same document that is found at page 18 of the clerk’s record.

So why was this crucial fact of an alleged meeting between Appellee and another person omitted from the bill of particulars, omitted from Koenig’s testimony, and omitted from the prosecutor’s oral argument? No doubt, because the statement about the meeting referred not to what Koenig, himself, observed, but to what he assumed based upon the information provided by the tipster. If, as Koenig testified, he first saw Appellee’s vehicle as it was leaving the parking lot, he could not have seen Appellee meeting with another person while in the parking lot. Furthermore, if Koenig had observed such a meeting, he undoubtedly would have “Terry-stopped” both participants, not just Appel-lee. Did Koenig recognize this inconsistency in his original report after it was filed in the district court record and prepare an amended report deleting any reference to the alleged meeting? It is certainly unlikely that both the prosecutor and Koenig simply overlooked the most damning “evidence” in his report. More likely, they quite properly omitted any reference to what Koenig merely assumed and limited his testimony to what he actually observed so as not to mislead the trial court. Unfortunately, the trial court was not only misled by the statement in the report that she found in the clerk’s record, she also mistakenly believed Koenig had repeated the statement during the eviden-tiary hearing.

Of course, I agree with the majority opinion that the rules ordinarily applicable to the admission of evidence (except those pertaining to privileges) do not apply to preliminary questions of fact determined by a trial court under KRE 104(a). See KRE 1101(d)(1); Talbott v. Commonwealth, 968 S.W.2d 76, 82 (Ky.1998); accord United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 173-74, 94 S.Ct. 988, 994, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974). However, that does not mean that the trial court’s findings of fact can be predicated upon information that is not, in fact, admitted into evidence. Remember, RCr 9.78 requires an “evidentiary” hearing and that the trial court’s findings be “supported by substantial evidence,” not, e.g., “the writing on the wall.” Huff v. Commonwealth, 406 S.W.2d 831, 832 (Ky.1966) (“These [traffic] citations were filed in the record but do not ascend to the dignity of competent evidence ....”) (appeal from judgment following bench trial); Ray Brandt Nissan, Inc. v. Gurvich, 726 So.2d 474, 476 (La.Ct.App.1999) (“Evidence not properly and officially offered and introduced into evidence cannot be considered, even if it is physically placed in the record.”) (appeal from order issued after show-cause hearing); cf. Garrett v. Commonwealth, 48 S.W.3d 6, 16 (Ky.2001) (fact that victim was pregnant was not a fact in evidence even though jury could plainly see that she was pregnant; thus, trial court properly sustained prosecutor’s objection to defense counsel’s remark during closing argument that “since T.J. was pregnant, she now knew how much penetration constituted sexual intercourse.”). The majority opinion disingenuously attempts to avoid the plain language of RCr 9.78 by characterizing this suppression hearing as an in limine hearing held pursuant to RCr 8.22. Ante, at 506-07.

The majority opinion’s reliance on Mid-Southern Toyota, Ltd. v. Bug’s Imports, Inc., 453 S.W.2d 544 (Ky.1970), is also misplaced. There, the presiding judge at a bench trial considered a party’s answers to interrogatories and responses to requests for admissions in support of his judgment. The answers and responses were in the court record but were not formally introduced into evidence. The opinion held that such was not prejudicial “so long as the parties know that the court intends to consider the admission or answers as evidence, and the parties are afforded the opportunity to make any objections of inadmissibility.” Id. at 550 (emphasis added). Such did not occur here,, probably because the trial court mistakenly believed that Officer Koenig had, in fact, testified that he observed Appellee “meeting with another subject” in the parking lot. Further, the answers to interrogatories referred to in Mid-Southern Toyota were sworn to by the party held accountable, CR 33.01(2), thus were admissions that could have been admitted against that party at trial, KRE 801A(b)(l), and could have been explained, if necessary, by supplemental answers; and the CR 36 admissions referred to in that ease were judicial admissions, as opposed to evidentiary admissions, which are conclusive and eliminate the need to introduce evidence. Berrier v. Bizer, 57 S.W.3d 271, 278-79 (Ky.2001). If the trial court had informed thé parties of her intent to consider the contents of a police report filed in the clerk’s record, Appellee’s counsel could have cross-examined Koenig about the alleged meeting and, perhaps, have learned that it was based on an assumption, not an observation — or that the information was simply incorrect. However, once the trial court ruled on the motion, it was too late to reopen the evidence and further investigate this issue. Watkins v. Commonwealth, 105 S.W.3d 449, 451 (Ky.2003) (defendant could not supplement the record of the suppression hearing after the Court issued its findings and overruled his motion to suppress).

II. PRESERVATION OF ERROR.

The majority opinion’s assertion that Appellee somehow failed to preserve this issue by failing to object to the court’s findings confuses procedures applicable to the admission of evidence with those applicable to orders and judgments. The trial court did not purport to admit the police report into evidence; thus, there was no-evidentiary ruling to which defense counsel could object. See KRE 103(a)(1). Appel-lee moved to suppress the evidence that was unlawfully obtained on September 4, 1999, and that was all he was required to do in order to preserve the issue for appeal.

In actions tried by the court without a jury, the sufficiency of evidence to support the findings of fact may be raised on appeal without regard to whether there was an objection to such findings or whether there was a post-judgment motion. CR 52.08. In William 0. Ber-tlesman and Kurt A. Philip[p]s, 7 Kentucky Practice, § 52.03 (4th ed.1984), it is explained that “[a]n objection of this nature would be a needless formality since the very basis of the final judgment is involved.” When the only issue is whether the evidence was sufficient to support the findings of the trial court, there is no need to object or make additional motions. Such objections or motions call for nothing more than review of a completed act and are redundant or worse.

Eiland v. Ferrell, 937 S.W.2d 713, 715-16 (Ky.1997) (citation omitted); cf. Prince v. Commonwealth, 576 S.W.2d 244, 246 (Ky.App.1978) (error in verdict was one of substance not procedure, thus was preserved by motion for new trial even though defendant did not object to form of verdict when rendered).

III. ANONYMOUS TIPSTER.

The majority opinion’s “even if’ argument in this case is that the anonymous tipster was not, in fact, anonymous because he provided his information in person as opposed to, e.g., by telephone. I agree that a face-to-face anonymous tip is more rehable than a telephonic anonymous tip. However, all of the post-J.L. cases cited in the majority opinion required some factor in addition to a face-to-face encounter to render the tip sufficiently credible to justify the subsequent Terry stop.

In United States v. Romain, 393 F.3d 63 (1st Cir.2004), the police responded to a 911 emergency call in which the caller said that “someone’s in here with a gun,” and advised the police to determine her location by tracing the call. When the officers arrived at the residence, the caller answered the door, identified herself as Margaret Jones, appeared to be frightened, and nodded affirmatively when asked if there was anyone with a gun at the residence. It was not until after this additional information was received that the police confronted the defendant, conducted a pat-down search, and found the gun. Id. at 66-67. While the Court noted that “[a] face-to-face encounter provides police officers the opportunity to perceive and evaluate personally an informant’s mannerisms, expressions, and tone of voice,” id. at 73, e.g., Jones appeared frightened, the Court’s bottom fine was: “The informant here was not ‘anonymous’-” Id. at 74.

In United States v. Heard, 367 F.3d 1275 (11th Cir.2004), the defendant and the female informant were arguing inside a MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) station when the officer approached them. The informant told the officer that the defendant owed her $50.00. The defendant admitted that he owed the money and forthwith paid it to the informant. The woman then told the officer that the defendant had a gun — and the officer testified that she appeared frightened while doing so. While the officer searched the defendant, the woman fled. Id. at 1277, 1279. Thus, as far as the officer was concerned, she was, indeed, anonymous. The Court held that the facts that the defendant and the informant were together when first encountered by the officer and that the defendant paid her the $50.00 indicated that there was a relationship between the two, so that the woman probably knew whether the defendant was carrying a weapon. Id. at 1279. That and the fact that the woman appeared frightened created sufficient indicia of reliability to support the Terry stop. Id.

In United States v. Hopes, 286 F.3d 788 (5th Cir.2002), the informant identified herself as the operator of a halfway house, who was well known to the police and had given reliable information to the police in the past. Id. at 789-90. Manifestly, she was not an “anonymous tipster.”

In United States v. Christmas, 222 F.3d 141 (4th Cir.2000), the informant approached officers who were in her neighborhood, gave them her address, and told them that “you need to come and deal with the drugs and the guns that these guys have on the porch two doors down from me.” Id. at 143. Of course, having given her address and exposed herself to reprisal, she was no longer anonymous; and the fact that the alleged criminal activity occurred only two doors from her residence and in close proximity to the location of the criminal activity lent credibility to her tip. Id.

A closer case is United States v. Valentine, 232 F.3d 350 (3d Cir.2000), in which a young man approached a police officer at 1:00 a.m. in a high-crime area known for shootings, told the officer that the defendant had a gun, refused to give his name, then departed. Id. at 352. The officer also testified that the defendant and his companions had begun walking away when they noticed his police cruiser. Id. at 353. The Court held that the facts that the defendant was in a high-crime area known for shootings and walked away when he noticed the police cruiser gave the anonymous tip sufficient credibility to uphold the subsequent Terry stop. Id. at 356-57.

In the case sub judice, the tipster did not give Koenig his/her name, address or any information that would have indicated that he/she had reason to know that criminal activity was afoot in the K-Mart parking lot. Koenig did not testify that he observed anything about the tipster’s demeanor that caused him to give credibility to the tip. Nor did he testify that the K-Mart parking lot was a high-crime area where drug transactions often occurred. In other words, he had no information lending credibility to the anonymous tip except the tip, itself. Under J.L., that is not enough.

In its brief, the Commonwealth cites and quotes State v. Evans, 692 So.2d 216 (Fla. Dist.Ct.App.1997) in support of its claim that a tip from a citizen informant is entitled to more credibility than a telephonic tip. What Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal held in Evans, however, was “that an informant’s actual name need not be known so long as her identity is readily discoverable.” Id. at 218. In Evans, the informant was the manager of a McDonald’s restaurant who was working the drive-thru line when she observed that the defendant was drunk as he placed his order and drove through the line. She called the police and gave her name, her address, her location, and that she was the manager of the McDonald’s restaurant. When the police arrived, she pointed out the defendant’s vehicle as the suspect vehicle. The fact that the informant’s identity was readily discoverable is exemplified by the fact that she testified as a witness at the suppression hearing. Id. at 217.

Evans was readily distinguished by the very same court in Solino v. State, 763 So.2d 1249 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.2000). There, an unidentified motorist driving a white sport utility vehicle (SUV) informed a deputy sheriff (face-to-face) that he had seen a bottle tossed out of the window of a green Nissan automobile proceeding down the highway in front of the SUV. The deputy did not see the defendant throw the bottle, did not see a bottle on the highway, and did not see the defendant commit any traffic violation. He made the stop based solely on the statement of the unidentified motorist. Id. at 1249. In suppressing the evidence obtained as a result of the stop, the court observed that “the driver of the white SUV was ... an anonymous tipster who could not be identified or located and whose information was not corroborated.” Id. at 1252.

A similar fact pattern occurred in State v. Rewis, 722 So.2d 863 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1998), in which the driver of a semi-truck pulled into a highway rest stop, gave sheriffs deputies (face-to-face) the license number of a Firebird automobile that he claimed to have seen “weaving on the road,” then departed without leaving any identification. Based on this tip, the deputies stopped and searched the Firebird, which was found to contain a bottle that tested positive for heroin. Id. at 864. In ordering the evidence suppressed, the court held:

Although the deputies were given the tip by a passing driver, for all practical purposes he was an anonymous tipster. His identity is unknown, any means of locating him is unknown, as are his motives for disclosing the information. He might have pointed out the Firebird because he was angered by its driver, ... or been the recipient of an obscene gesture, or for any reason other than the one he gave deputies. The deputies had no way to corroborate the information, and agreed at the hearing that they had not themselves seen anything that would have given them reason to stop the Fire-bird other than the tip.

Id. at 864. See also Rivera v. State, 771 So.2d 1246, 1247 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.2000). As these cases hold, the mere fact that an anonymous tipster imparts his information to the police face-to-face is insufficient, standing alone, to justify a Terry stop. Unfortunately, that is all that was proven in this case.

Accordingly, I dissent.

LAMBERT, C.J., joins this dissenting opinion.

      . KRS 431.015 provides that a citation is issued by an officer only for a misdemeanor or violation committed in the officer's presence; however, KRS 431.450, which provides for the use of a uniform citation by all law enforcement agencies, directs that “[a]ll peace officers in the Commonwealth shall use the uniform citation for all violations of the traffic laws and for all felonies, misdemeanors and violations.” KRS 431.450(4). Since the uniform citation is specified as the charging document for traffic offenses, RCr 6.02(2); Skeans v. Commonwealth, 912 S.W.2d 455, 456 (Ky.App.1995) ("Uniform citations, like indictments in felony cases, are charging documents in the prosecution of DUI offenses and are not solely 'investigative reports by police.’ ”), and Appellee was charged with a traffic offense, i.e., No Motor Vehicle Insurance, the uniform citation was properly filed in the court record for that purpose because of its status as a pleading. RCr 8.12.

      . KRS 218A.1415.

      . KRS 218A.500.

      . KRS 304.39-080; KRS 304.99-060.

      . Paul Simon, Kodachrome, verse 1, line 7 (Rhino 1973).