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TN: Search incident extended to buttocks

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The seizure of a bag of cocaine from defendant's buttocks was valid as a search incident and not as a Terry frisk. State v. Muse, 2008 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 831 (October 17, 2008): The evidence does not preponderate against the trial court's finding that the challenged search and seizure of the Appellant by police occurred incidentally to his arrest for sale of cocaine. We agree with the trial court's determination that the Appellant's reliance on Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S. Ct. 1868 (1968), is misplaced. Under the Terry stop exception to the search warrant requirement, a law enforcement officer may temporarily seize a citizen if the officer has a reasonable suspicion, based upon specific and articulable facts, that a criminal offense has been, is being, or is about to be committed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).