Someone in a public location might have an unexpected interaction with a police officer. Police officers can have consensual contact with anyone in a public space. Officers investigating recent criminal activity or patrolling neighborhoods with high crime rates can sometimes be overzealous when interacting with individuals.
They may physically search someone, which people may refer to as a pat-down or frisk search. A physical search of someone’s body might result in a police officer finding contraband such as drugs. They might then arrest the person.
Those facing drug charges after a physical search by the police sometimes begin to question whether the search in question was actually legal. What are the rules regarding a bodily search of someone not yet under arrest?
The Supreme Court helped set the standard years ago
Decades ago, the Supreme Court of the United States heard a crucial case where the crux of the legal issue was a physical search in a stop-and-frisk scenario. The courts eventually established standards for what some people now call Terry stops because of the name of the defendant in that case.
If a police officer wants to physically search someone in a public environment who is not subject to arrest, they need permission from the individual. Without the consent of the person searched, a physical search is only legal in one specific scenario.
Police officers can pat someone down or frisk them when they have a reasonable suspicion that the person has a deadly weapon in their immediate possession. A belief that the individual might have drugs or other contraband is not an adequate reason to physically search someone who is not under arrest.
In scenarios where an officer did not have proper justification to search, that could affect the case brought by the state. Defense attorneys can sometimes seek the exclusion of certain evidence from a criminal trial by proving that police officers violated someone’s rights. In some cases, evidence of an illegal search might even lead to the state dismissing the charges.
Understanding the rules that protect individuals when they’re interacting with the police can be beneficial for those facing pending drug charges. An illegal search can sometimes play an important role in a criminal defense strategy.
