Pat-Down Search - Suspicious Actions of the Subject After Being Stopped: United States v. Raymond, United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit 1998

• NCJ Number: 175825
• Journal: Crime to Court , Police Officer's Handbook Dated: January 1999 Pages: 1-11
• Author(s): J C Coleman
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In a recent case decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, the court held that information known by police officers before the stop justified a pat-down search.

Abstract

The trial judge was faced with the question of whether the suspicious activity of a vehicle occupant stopped for speeding was enough in itself to justify a weapons search of the person. The suspect was a passenger in vehicle traveling on Interstate 95 in South Carolina. The vehicle driver was stopped for going 86 miles per hour and was asked to step out of the vehicle while the police officer checked his license and registration and issued a citation. Because the driver was extremely nervous, the police officer asked him if he had any drugs or weapons in the vehicle. The driver denied having those items and readily consented to let the police officer search the vehicle. The passenger also acted suspiciously and was searched. The police officer found a crack "cookie" under the passenger's jacket, and the passenger was later indicted by a grand jury for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. The passenger moved to suppress the evidence obtained during the pat-down search based on three principal arguments: (1) the police officer violated the fourth amendment's prohibition of unreasonable seizure by ordering the passenger to exit the vehicle during the traffic stop; (2) the police officer had no basis for suspecting the passenger might be armed to justify a pat-down search; and (3) when the police officer took the crack from the passenger's jacket, he exceeded the constitutionally permissible bounds of a Terry pat-down. The district court rejected these arguments and denied the motion to suppress. The passenger pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 190 months in prison. On appeal, the passenger used the same arguments he advanced in district court, but his conviction and sentence were affirmed. 2 photographs