United States v. Richardson, No. 11-1205 (7th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseBecause defendant, stopped for speeding, behaved oddly, the officer had a canine perform a free-air search. The dog alerted and defendant consented to a search of the car. During a pat-down, defendant tried to pull away, and, after feeling a hard object in defendant's pocket, the officer found a bundle of cash and a packet of cocaine. While being cuffed and while in the squad car, defendant made statements about being able to obtain additional cocaine. Convicted of possession with intent to distribute more than five grams of cocaine base (21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)), defendant was sentenced to 236 months, based on 24 prior convictions. The Seventh Circuit affirmed denial of a motion to suppress. An officer who encounters a small, hard object during a pat-down may have reasonable suspicion to believe the object is a weapon. The court suppressed all of defendant's responses to questions, but his other statements were not coerced and police are not precluded from listening to voluntary statements.
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