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KY: Strip search at place of arrest was not unreasonable here

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was arrested on a warrant, and somebody yelled out “It’s in his crotch!” The situation was tense, and the officers conducted a strip search to recover what was there. It was indoors and not unreasonable under all the circumstances. Commonwealth v. Marshall, 2010 Ky. LEXIS 182 (August 26, 2010): Here, the search was performed after the officers: recognized that Appellee might be subject to a bench warrant; witnessed him conceal something near his groin; faced a potentially dangerous, ongoing fracas; heard an individual scream “It’s in his crotch!”; knew that he sometimes carried a weapon; and became immediately aware that Appellee was harboring drugs on his person. We find that because of the need for officer and public safety and the need to preserve evidence, there existed ample justification to conduct this search...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 29, 2010 (boomark / email).