DE: A frisk has to be based on reasonable suspicion; protocol not enough

A frisk during a traffic stop, without reasonable suspicion and based solely on protocol, violated Terry. “All parties agree that it was permissible for the officers to stop and search the vehicle. There was a broken headlight, and the officers’ background search revealed capias evasion. Yet, it was at this point, that the officers’ actions ceased to be reasonably related to the original suspicion. The officers could not provide any reason for frisking Defendant, other than that it was ‘protocol.’ As the Delaware Supreme Court has articulated, however, ‘[a]llowing routine pat down searches would eviscerate Terry’s requirement that the pat down be based on particularized suspicion developed by the officer with respect to each individual suspect.’” State v. Rhoades, 2014 Del. Super. LEXIS 621 (November 26, 2014).

Arrest on driving on a suspended DL was custodial, so a search incident of the person was proper. Hynes v. State, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 692 (December 2, 2014).*

An unconscious woman in defendant’s car was reason for the stop, and it was valid. The trial court applied the wrong standard for entry into a home, which is higher on the state. State v. Sheehan, 2014 N.M. App. LEXIS 113 (November 26, 2014).*