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S.D.N.Y.: Strip search of armed robbery arrestee for weapons was valid

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant's strip search at the precinct house was valid. He and his cohorts were arrested for suspicion of armed robbery, and the patdown produced no weapons. Based on the CI's information that they were all armed, and the fact that officers had not found weapons during patdowns in the past that produced weapons at the precinct house on a full search, a strip search at the precinct house was permissible. United States v. Gonzalez, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59742 (S.D. N.Y. March 2, 2009): While it does not appear that Detectives Badyna and Marinez had any reason to believe that they would find drugs on Gonzalez's person, both testified that, based on their years of law enforcement experience, arrestees could hide weapons or other contraband on their person that pat-down searches would not detect...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 16, 2009 (boomark / email).