AL: Where SI was permissible, officer’s claim of patdown was irrelevant

The search of defendant was permissible as a search incident with probable cause of drug possession. The fact the officer articulated that he wanted to do a Terry patdown is irrelevant since the objective record supports the search. Tolbert v. State, 111 So. 3d 747 (Ala. Crim. App. 2011):

Although the record appears to indicate that Officer Foster intended to perform a Terry search limited to a search of Tolbert for weapons in order to protect his and other officers’ safety, Officer Foster’s subjective intentions are irrelevant. As noted above, Officer Foster was objectively-authorized to search Tolbert incident to a lawful arrest, and therefore the discovery and seizure of a controlled substance from Tolbert’s pants pocket was legally permissible. See State v. Gargus, 855 So. 2d 587, 590 n.2 (Ala. Crim. App. 2003).

Defendant’s patdown was unreasonable because the officer failed to provide justification that he believed defendant was armed. State v. Edwards, 112 So. 3d 53 (Ala. Crim. App. 2012).*