Opinion ID: 198057
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Seizure of the Marijuana

Text: 15 Proctor argues that, even if the police had a reasonable suspicion to conduct a search, the district court erred in ruling that the officer, upon patting down the defendant, made an immediate determination that the bulge was in fact a glassine bag containing marijuana, and that it was reasonable for the officer to remove the item from Proctor's jacket. Under the plain-view doctrine, during a lawful search, police may seize an object in plain view without a warrant if its incriminating character is immediately apparent.... Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 375, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 124 L.Ed.2d 334 (1993). Similarly, the plain-feel doctrine permits an officer who lawfully pats down a suspect's outer clothing and feels an object whose contour or mass makes its identity immediately apparent to seize the contraband. Id. We review a finding that the incriminating nature of an object was immediately apparent from a plain feel for clear error. See United States v. Schiavo, 29 F.3d 6, 9 (1st Cir.1994). 16 We hold that the seizure of the glassine bag of marijuana from Proctor's jacket falls within the scope of the plain-feel doctrine. In Schiavo, this court upheld the district court's suppression of evidence seized during a pat-down search because the state trooper conducting the search indicated that only after he had taken a paper bag from the defendant's jacket and examined its contents was he able to determine that the bulge was contraband. See 29 F.3d at 9. In this case, the district court found that Officer Campbell, upon feeling the bulge, immediately recognized it as a bag containing marijuana. The Dickerson court noted: 17 Terry itself demonstrates that the sense of touch is capable of revealing the nature of an object with sufficient reliability to support a seizure. The very premise of Terry, after all, is that officers will be able to detect the presence of weapons through the sense of touch and Terry upheld precisely such a seizure. 18 508 U.S. at 376, 113 S.Ct. 2130. Officer Campbell testified that he was consistently able to determine the feel of marijuana from conducting numerous pat-downs of suspects. It is important to note that the officer was conducting the frisk at a residence where he had just delivered five pounds of marijuana. Under these circumstances, we find no clear error. 19 While the defendant argues that the evidence should be excluded under Dickerson, Officer Campbell did not engage in a continued exploration of respondent's pocket after having concluded that it contained no weapon, id. at 378, 113 S.Ct. 2130, as the officer in Dickerson did. Instead, he immediately determined the contents of the bulge after a more cursory feel. Proctor also alleges that clear error resulted from the district court's oral ruling that the officer had a reasonable basis to perform the pat-down given the circumstances surrounding the pat-down for weapons and/or contraband. Appellant asserts that the district court found Officer Campbell's continued exploration of the bulge with his fingers permissible because of its mistake with respect to the scope of Terry, which allows only a frisk for weapons. We reject this argument outright. It is clear from the transcript of the hearing on Proctor's suppression motion as well as the district court's written order that the basis of its decision not to suppress the drug evidence was the plain-feel doctrine in Dickerson rather than the scope of Terry. In other words, the district court relied on the fact that the identity of the bulge was immediately apparent to Officer Campbell rather than on its belief that Terry allows a pat-down for contraband. Accordingly, the district court properly denied Proctor's motion to suppress. 20 Having determined that the search and seizure at issue was constitutionally permissible, we need not reach appellant's argument that any evidence obtained from the subsequent search of Proctor's business premises should be suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree.