NY4: Def consented to search of his person by entering a courthouse

Defendant entered the Hall of Justice in Rochester, and he set off the metal detector. Three hand wandings showed metal in his crotch. He was handcuffed and taken to a more secure area. A search of his person revealed gold foil wrapped drugs. He consented to the search by entering the courthouse with signs warning of a search. People v. White, 2015 NY Slip Op 03963, 2015 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 3915 (4th Dept. May 8, 2015) (Treatise § 48.02 n.5):

Here, defendant was warned before walking through the magnetometers that he could be subject not just to a pat frisk, but to a search. Given a reasonable person’s knowledge of the increased security measures in government buildings in the past decade and the notifications posted for entrants into the Hall of Justice, we conclude that a reasonable person would have understood that the impending search could involve more than a pat frisk if the initial magnetometer scans indicated the presence of metal on his or her person (see Hurt, 93 AD3d at 617-618; see generally Gomez, 5 NY3d at 419). We therefore further conclude that the deputies’ search of defendant’s person did not exceed the scope of defendant’s implied consent.

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