Court Opinion

ID: 9878002
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-27 16:36:45.199071+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:47:30.767160
License: Public Domain

Altice, Judge,
concurring.
The slender record presented by the State below compels the result reached in this case. Officer Wren smelled a very strong odor of raw marijuana coming from Porter’s person but had been unable to locate the contraband during a pat down search. Officer Wren then pulled on the waistband of Porter’s jeans and reached her hand inside the front, crotch area, between Porter’s legs. Upon feeling what she believed to be a marijuana blunt, Officer Wren then placed her hand inside Porter’s underwear and retrieved the contraband.
Although far from a strip search, I agree that this roadside exploratory search inside Porter’s pants was particularly intrusive and necessitated a showing that the search was performed in a reasonable manner or under exigent circumstances. The State made no such showing. The bare record establishes merely that the search occurred “but on the side of the road” in the 2300 block of Lafayette Road and was performed by a female officer with at least two males present at the scene. Transcript *909at 14. These facts are not sufficient to establish that the search was reasonable.