LA4: A plastic bag in the groin area, where drug dealers commonly keep it, is more likely plain feel

The presence of a plastic bag in the groin area, where drug dealers commonly keep it, is more susceptible to plain feel. Pockets are where people carry things; drug dealers use their groin. State v. Vessel, 131 So. 3d 523 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2014).

Unlike, James and Parker, the heroin was not located in the defendant’s pocket in a common container, which serves many legitimate purposes. Rather, it was located in a plastic bag, in the upper thigh area, underneath the defendant’s shorts, where drugs are commonly concealed. It is further challenging to believe that a citizen would store a legitimate substance in this manner and location. See State v. Guillory, 09-1350, p. 6 (La. 11/20/09), 21 So.3d 945, 949 (where the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the seizure of plastic bag containing crack cocaine in the defendant’s waistband, noting it was difficult to imagine a legitimate substance being kept within plastic wrapping in the waistband of a citizen).

Similar to the case at bar is State v. Jackson, 96-1503, p. 4 (La. App. 4 Cir. 12/4/96), 684 So.2d 1046, 1049. In Jackson the officer specifically articulated at trial that the defendant’s nervousness during the search, as well as the size, shape, and texture of the object, caused him to believe that it was contraband. Consequently, this Court upheld the constitutionality of the seizure of cocaine from the defendant’s pocket finding that the officer “plainly felt what he believed to be contraband.” Id., p. 5, 684 So.2d at 1049. See also, State v. Stevens, 95-501 (La. App. 5 Cir. 3/26/96), 672 So.2d 986 (where the seizure of drugs in a matchbox detected during a lawful pat-down was upheld after the officer testified that her prior experience indicated that most street-level crack dealers carried their drugs in a matchbox.)

In light of the jurisprudence and the circumstances in this case, we find that the Officer Aranda had probable cause to seize the heroin, under the plain feel exception, once he felt, in his experience and observations, what he recognized to be contraband under the defendant’s shorts.