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Handcuffing defendant removed threat he could reach an [unlikely] weapon in a container in pocket

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Once defendant was handcuffed, a more intensive search of his pockets to search a tupperware container for a purported weapon, was unjustified. The defendant was stopped in the vicinity of a burglar alarm call, but he had nothing in his hands or about him that would indicate that he was involved in the burglary. Questioning led to a handcuffing, and then the intrusive search for a possible weapon. State v. Rudder, 2008 Ore. App. LEXIS 520 (April 23, 2008). Asking for consent while holding defendant's identification on a stop because he might have been frequenting a drug house was unreasonable. State conceded error. State v. Bales, 2008 Ore. App. LEXIS 519 (April 23, 2008).* Defendant was accused of e-mailing death threats to administrators at a Upstate New York college he was fired from for making threats...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 26, 2008 (boomark / email).