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W.D.Tenn.: A wad of cash is "immediately apparent" to a Secret Service agent investigating counterfeiting

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A Secret Service agent who stopped a suspected counterfeiter and patted him down was able to conclude that the wad of cash in the pocket was immediately apparent as counterfeit money. United States v. Smith, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 112499 (W.D. Tenn. August 16, 2010): While Agent Davis did not testify specifically about his personal observations when he felt the wad of cash in Smith's pocket, it is reasonable to believe that a Secret Service agent investigating a person for passing counterfeit would immediately recognize the feel of a wad of cash in the person's pocket and believe that it was incriminating evidence. In United States v. Bustos-Torres, 396 F.3d 935 (8th Cir. 2005), an officer observed what he believed to be a drug transaction, and as he conducted a Terry frisk of defendant Alfaro for weapons, the officer came across two wads of bills in Alfaro's pockets, which the officer seized...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 26, 2010 (boomark / email).