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Search of shoes during a frisk for weapons was unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The officer exceeded the scope of a proper Terry frisk when the defendant's shoes were searched, too, without any reasonable suspicion. State v. Morton, 2008 Iowa App. LEXIS 44 (January 30, 2008): Sergeant Skaff's search went beyond a patdown of Morton's outer clothing. Skaff first patted down Morton's outer clothing and checked Morton's waist band for sharp objects. This part of the search is permitted by Terry and is reasonably related to ensuring Morton was not armed and dangerous. Skaff then asked Morton to take his cap off and kick his shoes off. Removing a suspect's shoes without a reasonable belief that a weapon is being hidden in the shoes has been held to exceed the proper scope of a protective search. [citations omitted] Defendant's claim of standing even under Massachusetts automatic standing rule failed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 01, 2008 (boomark / email).