Re:

[picot@cpcug.org (Chris Picot)]

At 09:48 AM 10/30/96 -0800, scirocco-l@privateI.com wrote:
>At 07:49 AM 10/30/96 +0500, you wrote:

>>That comes up later in the story.  I got out, followed the lady to the
>>police car.  She says 'empty your pockets'.  I didnt have anything illegal,
>>so I did.  I pulled the pocketful of change out of my left pocket, showed it
>>to her, and put it back in.  She put her hands in both of my pockets and
>>searched me.  As far as I know, that's illegal.
>
>Nope, she has the right to search you for anything. All she has to say is
>she was looking for a weapon and oh, look, I found some rock..... Thats the
>technique they use. It's quite legal my friend.

Isn't it just a "pat down" to check for the possibility of weapons that is
permitted at this point and not a search of things such as pockets?  If all
he had in his pockets was was some pocket change, I do not see how a pat
down would indicate the possible presence of a weapon.  She was making an
illegal search for drugs.  She was not looking for weapons.  She just
figured she could get away with it.  

Before you file your complaint, you should visit your local Public Defender
and see if they will give you a copy of a brief on the actions a police
officer may take in regard to a search in connection with a traffic (or
similar) stop.  (You might even be able to find a brief of that nature on
the Web.)  Submit it with your complaint.  

Chris

>Shawn
>
>
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