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D.C.: Person on the porch of a house to be searched with a search warrant could be frisked

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was visiting and sitting on the porch of a house when police arrived to execute a search warrant. The frisk of the accused was proper. Germany v. United States, 2009 D.C. App. LEXIS 608 (December 3, 2009): The parties agree that the MPD officers' detention of appellant during the execution of the search warrant was lawful, and that the sole issue presented is whether the weapons pat-down was constitutionally permissible. As one appellate court observed a few years ago, "[w]hether law enforcement officers may detain and pat-down persons encountered during the execution of a narcotics search warrant in a private home is far from settled." State v. Howard, No. 2003-CA-0058, 2004 Ohio App. LEXIS 2256, at P29 (Ohio Ct. App. June 2, 2004) (italics added)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 07, 2009 (boomark / email).