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D.S.C.: Arrest on porch had sufficient facts to justify protective sweep inside

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was arrested on his porch, and a protective sweep for weapons was conducted inside. The protective sweep was not unreasonable because it was based on articulable facts that another person was present and potentially armed. United States v. White, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18057 (D. S.C. March 1, 2010): The circumstances warranted a reasonable fear that an individual with a firearm may still be lurking in the home: it had been reported to the officers that a gun was involved in the domestic disturbance occurring at the residence, the victim indicated she was not complying with Officer Church's commands to come off of the porch because she was being held at gunpoint by someone inside the mobile home, and the gun remained unaccounted for after the officers detained Defendant outside of the residence...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 05, 2010 (boomark / email).