10-2031 U.S. v. Snow

Listen to this article

Search and Seizure
Pat-down searches

Where an officer was responding to a report of a burglary, and the suspect matched the description and was wearing baggy clothing, a pat-down search was lawful.

“Because the facts known to the officers supported a Terry stop to investigate whether he in fact had attempted a residential burglary, and because burglary is the type of offense that likely involves a weapon, Andrews’ decision to order Snow out of the truck for purposes of a protective frisk was reasonable despite the absence of additional facts suggesting that Snow in particular might be armed. That Snow was calm and readily gave his driver’s license to Andrews did not, for the same reasons we cited in Barnett, mitigate the reasonable suspicion that he might be armed given the nature of the crime of which he was suspected. Nor does the fact that Snow handed over his keys without being asked mitigate that suspicion. Viewed in a light favorable to Snow, the surrender of his keys was simply an additional manifestation of his cooperative attitude; although we add that it could also be viewed as an attempt to forestall any request that he step out of the truck. Snow points out that the stop did not occur at night or in a neighborhood that was known to have a high crime rate. See, e.g., United States v. Tinnie, 629 F.3d 749, 752 (7th Cir. 2011) (citing the time of day and nature of the neighborhood as among the circumstances supporting a protective patdown). But given that it is the nature of the crime of which Snow was suspected that gave rise to the inference he might be armed, the time and place of the stop did not lessen the possibility that Snow might pose a danger to Andrews or others nearby.

Moreover, given what Snow was wearing (loose-fitting jeans and a hooded sweatshirt), it was not possible for Andrews to determine just by looking at Snow whether a weapon might be concealed by his clothing. Finally, whatever Andrews potentially might have learned by questioning Snow further before deciding to pat him down is neither here nor there, given that it was reasonable to suspect that Snow was armed at the very outset of the stop. After all, the purpose of a protective frisk is to ensure the safety of the officer and others during the investigative detention.”

Affirmed.

10-2031 U.S. v. Snow

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, McKinney, J., Rovner, J.

Full Text