Court Opinion

ID: 9741410
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:55:14.405367+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:23.939202
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE WELCH, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. The validity of a weapons pat-down conducted during a valid investigatory stop is assessed by an objective standard. People v. Flowers, 179 Ill. 2d 257, 264 (1997). The question is whether a reasonably prudent person in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger. Flowers, 179 Ill. 2d at 264. Although the standard is an objective one, the officer’s subjective belief regarding the safety of the situation is one of the factors that may be considered in determining whether the weapons pat-down was valid under Terry. Flowers, 179 Ill. 2d at 264. In the case at bar, Trooper Boyles’ subjective belief regarding the safety of the situation might not have warranted the pat-down of the defendant. However, the officer’s subjective belief is not dispositive. Flowers, 179 Ill. 2d at 264. Even giving Trooper Boyles’ subjective belief its due weight, I believe that an objective evaluation of the circumstances of this case demonstrates that the pat-down was warranted under all existing precedent, that the evidence seized could reasonably have been construed during the pat-down to be a weapon, and that the evidence should not have been suppressed. The testimony adduced before the trial court demonstrates that the two officers present at the scene of the traffic stop were dealing with three men the officers knew to have criminal histories — one of the men was a parolee and another of the men had been arrested very recently for a gun violation. Furthermore, it was past 4 p.m. in early November, with darkness quickly approaching. One officer was to watch the three men while the other officer, with the permission of the defendant, searched the truck, an entirely separate task that placed both the searching officer and the guarding officer in compromising positions. Under these circumstances I believe that a pat-down of the three men was objectively reasonable and was warranted under all existing precedent. I also believe that given the size of the object discovered on the person of the defendant during the pat-down and given the testimony of Trooper Boyles, that object could easily have been construed to be a weapon. I conclude, accordingly, that the removal of the object from the defendant’s person was warranted. Thus, the discovery that the object was in fact two rocks of cocaine was legitimate, and the evidence should not have been suppressed. I note as well that I believe it is important to distinguish between a full search of a suspect’s person, which I agree should require that the officer reasonably believe that his or her safety is in danger, and a simple pat-down such as occurred in this case, which I believe should be permissible as a matter of routine. Following a prescribed routine with every suspect who is removed from a vehicle during a traffic stop is a prudent, sensible course of action for a police officer to follow. Such a procedure is not invasive and helps guarantee the safety of the police officers serving and protecting the rest of us. We should support basic routine safety precautions on the part of those officers, so that they and we can be assured that they will return safely to their homes and families at the end of their shifts.