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Shoes can be searched in a search incident

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Search incident could extend to defendant's shoes under United States v. Edwards. State v. Pinkelton, 2008 Ohio 980, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 837 (6th Dist. March 7, 2008). Feeling 17 bags of crack in defendant's pocket was not justified under plain feel. Defendant was lawfully stopped because he matched the description of a robbery suspect and was found in the area. The initial patdown was valid, but the plain feel was not. State v. Tucker, 2008 Ohio 963, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 820 (8th Dist. March 6, 2008)*: [*P17] However, in order to justify the seizure of the drugs, the State had to present some evidence that its incriminating nature was "immediately apparent" to the searching officer. There is no such evidence. The officer simply testified that "as we were searching [defendant] we found 17 bags of rock crack cocaine, and we found a bundle of plastic baggies in his right rear pocket...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 09, 2008 (boomark / email).