Opinion ID: 1192229
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Discovery of Crack Cocaine and Probable Cause for Kenerson's Arrest

Text: Kenerson's final argument is that Officer Williams had no basis to believe the hard bulge he felt in Kenerson's pocket during the pat-down was a weapon or contraband. Appellant cites United States v. Gibson, 19 F.3d 1449, 1451 (D.C.Cir.1994), which held that a hard, flat object did not reveal incriminating character sufficient to justify further search. Kenerson further relies on the rule in Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 373, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 124 L.Ed.2d 334 (1993), that once a protective search establishes that the suspect is unarmed, all further fruits will be suppressed. Here, however, the district court determined that Officer Williams saw the crack cocaine when Kenerson voluntarily opened his pocket in response to Williams's question about the lumps. Defendant does not challenge the validity of the initial question about the content of the pocket. Instead, defendant essentially asks this Court to reverse the district judge's finding that Officer Williams could and actually did see the three baggie corners at the bottom of the pocket during a nighttime traffic stop. The judge's determination that Officer Williams's testimony was credible rests upon a reenactment of the arrest using both the defendant and the pants in question. By contrast, defendant offers only concerns about the general improbability of the event. While the scenario where a police officer visually identifies drugs at the bottom of a jean pocket may be unlikely in the abstract, the district court found that exactly these events transpired during this specific arrest. We have no basis to conclude that this factual determination was clearly erroneous. Once Officer Williams saw the crack containers in plain view, he had probable cause to seize the contraband and arrest Kenerson. United States v. Raney, 342 F.3d 551, 558-59 (7th Cir.2003); United States v. Bruce, 109 F.3d 323, 328 (7th Cir.1997).