Court Opinion

ID: 9519181
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:10:55.50533+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:43:53.073312
License: Public Domain

DARDEN, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent with the majority in this case. I, too, am concerned about the safety of police officers when they conduct investigatory stops of suspects who might possess dangerous weapons. However, the majority's holding in this case would seem to allow police officers to virtually cease conducting limited "pat downs" and instead permits them to order a strip down search under the guise of officer safety.
A closer view of the facts in this case reveals that Byrd was standing outside the car in which Stone was the passenger. Even though Officer Gooch saw Byrd leaning into the car, and perhaps speaking to the occupants, his attention was drawn to Byrd primarily because it appeared that the manner in which he was attempting to get the attention of other cars traveling down the street was indicative of drug trafficking. Officer Gooch called for back-up and, upon its arrival, he approached Byrd and the occupants of the car. A pat down search of Byrd revealed a gun. Therefore, Stone and the driver were ordered to get out of the car. A pat down search of the outer clothing of Stone and the driver revealed no weapon; however, Officer Gooch, apparently still fearing for his safety even with the arrival of backup, had Stone remove his shoes to further search for weapons. The record is devoid of any evidence that Officer Gooch or any other officer attempted to conduct a pat down search around the area of Stone's shoes for weapons but, instead, had Stone remove his shoes. Surely, the State is not asking us to believe that Stone was walking on top of weapons that were concealed under his feet and on top of the inside soles of his shoes.
At the time Officer Gooch had Stone remove his shoes, he or his fellow police officers had already conducted a limited pat down search of Stone's outer clothing and had not detected a weapon or found any incriminating evidence. Officer Gooch's fear for the safety of himself and the other offi-eers could have been put to rest simply by conducting a pat down search around the area of Stone's high tops for a weapon. Rather, the pat down search for a weapon eventually turned into a full blown search for narcotics. Both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution provide that citizens shall not be subjected to unreasonable searches and seizures which, in my opinion, is what occurred in this case.
The underlying theme of the four cases from other jurisdictions which are discussed *505by the majority is the notion of the reasonableness of the officers' actions under the cireumstances of those cases. Although allowing for the possibility of expanding a valid pat down search of a suspect to include removal of his or her shoes when the police officer reasonably believes the suspect may be concealing a weapon, the courts in Thompson, 551 So.2d 1248, Mitchell, 622 N.E.2d 680, and Borges, 482 N.E.2d 314, nevertheless found that the searches of the suspects' shoes were unreasonable under the cireumstances. In like manner, I cannot agree with the majority's conclusion here that "(ilt is not unreasonable for a reasonable and prudent person to suspect a weapon could be hidden in an untied high top athletic shoe." This may be true; however I believe the officers' safety could have been ensured by means other than complete removal of Stone's shoes. As I noted above, Officer Gooch did not first conduct a pat down search of the area in and around Stone's high tops. Thus, I believe it was unreasonable under these cireumstances for Officer Gooch to instruct Stone to remove his shoes.
I disapprove the expansion of the Terry stop in this particular case. Clearly, this was not a case involving a pat down for weapons, but a case wherein law enforcement was permitted to conduct an unlimited search outside the judicial system, that is without the benefit of probable cause, a judicial search warrant, or even the articulation of specific facts, which would justify the intrusive invasion of citizen's rights as is guaranteed by both the United States and the Indiana Constitutions.
I would find the trial court erred by not granting Stone's motion to suppress and, accordingly, I would reverse Stone's conviction and sentence.