LA5: Leaning and hiding hands during traffic stop warrants patdown

Defendant was stopped for a traffic offense, and he leaned and hid his hands, and that justified a patdown. “The fact that an officer does not issue a traffic citation is irrelevant to the constitutionality of the stop.” State v. Cole, 131 So. 3d 931 (La.App. 5 Cir. 2013).

Defendant’s stop and patdown were without a reasonable suspicion of crime, let alone possession of a weapon. State v. Hawkins, 2013-Ohio-5458, 2013 Ohio App. LEXIS 5709 (2d Dist. December 13, 2013).*

The officer parked his police car so that the headlights were on defendant as he was getting something from a plastic bag on the ground. The stop was consensual, as was the patdown. State v. Phillips, __ Kan. App. __, 315 P.3d 887 (2013).*