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TX11: A marijuana pipe falling from defendant's pocket during his own field sobriety test of walking on his hands was reason for a search incident

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was stopped for suspicion of DWI, and he attempted to show the officer that he was not drunk, so he showed the officer that he could walk on his hands. When he did that, a marijuana pipe fell from his pocket. A search incident of the vehicle for marijuana to go with the pipe was valid. Daves v. State, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 7653 (Tex. App.–Eastland September 16, 2010).* Defense counsel did not make a search incident objection consistent with Gant which had not been decided yet, but defense counsel was not ineffective for not forecasting Gant. State v. Slighte, 2010 Wash. App. LEXIS 1926 (August 24, 2010).* The officer’s testimony is credited that there was a valid reason for the stop. The video did not contradict the officer; it was just inconclusive...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 24, 2010 (boomark / email).