Opinion ID: 1752105
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Pat Down Lawful

Text: A protective search which is permitted without a warrant and on the basis of reasonable suspicion less than probable cause must be strictly limited to that which is necessary for the discovery of weapons which might be used to harm the officer or others nearby. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); see also Crowder, supra . The purpose of the limited search is not to discover evidence of a crime, but to allow the officer to pursue the investigation without fear of violence. Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 124 L.Ed.2d 334 (1993). Here, the officer had a reasonable belief that Whitmore was armed. The officer was a police liaison in the housing project which was in a high crime and drug trafficking area. She had been to the apartment, where Whitmore was staying, numerous times before and had seen weapons there. When the officer entered the apartment, Whitmore began fidgeting and turning away from her. He then gave the officer a false name and refused to remove his hand from his pocket upon request. Considering the totality of the circumstances, the police officer had sufficient facts to form a reasonable belief that Whitmore was armed and that she was entitled to conduct a protective pat down search. The trial judge correctly overruled the motion to suppress the crack cocaine evidence based on the claim of an unlawful pat down.