Opinion ID: 1058199
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Seizure of Jones' Wallet

Text: It is well established that during an investigative stop, a police officer may conduct a limited pat down for weapons if the officer reasonably believes that the criminal suspect may be armed and dangerous. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). We recently stated: An officer who conducts a Terry pat-down search is justified in removing an item from a subject's pocket if the officer reasonably believes that the object might be a weapon. Additionally, the removal of an item from a subject's pocket is also justified if the officer can identify the object as suspicious under the plain feel variation of the plain view doctrine. However, an item may not be retrieved under the plain view doctrine unless it is immediately apparent to the officer that the item is evidence of a crime. Grandison v. Commonwealth, 274 Va. 316, 319-20, 645 S.E.2d 298, 300 (2007) (citations omitted). In this case, Detective Deluca was not justified in seizing Jones' wallet because Detective Deluca testified that he believed the item he seized was a wallet and not a weapon or contraband. Based upon Detective Deluca's testimony, we conclude that Detective Deluca did not have probable cause to retrieve the wallet from Jones' possession. Additionally, the record shows that Detective Deluca asked Jones whether he could look at the wallet, but the record does not show that Jones responded verbally or in any other way to this request. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, we cannot conclude that Jones consented to the seizure of his wallet. Therefore, the seizure of Jones' wallet by the detectives was in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. However, the dispositive issue in this case is not whether the detectives' seizure of Jones' wallet was an illegal seizure. Rather, the dispositive issue is whether the unlawful seizure of the wallet transformed a concededly valid investigatory stop into an illegal detention by unlawfully extending that detention.