State v. Cunningham
Annotate this CasePolice officers asked Defendant to step out of his truck during a traffic stop and made their permission conditional on a pat-down. During the pat-down, the officers discovered marijuana on Defendant’s person. Defendant then admitted he had a pipe in his truck. Defendant was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. The trial court granted Defendant’s motion to suppress the marijuana and the pipe. The Court of Appeals affirmed on different grounds, concluding that Defendant’s consent to the pat-down was invalid because the choice of being patted down as a condition of exiting the vehicle or else remaining in the vehicle unsearched was inherently coercive and rendered Defendant’s consent involuntary. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) it is not inherently coercive for police to give conditional permission to step out of the vehicle, subject to the motorist’s consent to a pat-down; and (2) any extension of the search from Defendant’s initial consent was the product of his subsequent consent and not of improper police conduct.
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