Question about search and seizure laws in California?

[corcoran42]

I had heard somewhere that when a person is "frisked" by the police, it is a weapons search and thus if they find anything illegal apart from weapons, such as drugs, it is inadmissible as evidence in court. How close is this to the truth?

BQ: Is it legal for an officer to randomly search your vehicle for drugs without reasonable cause? (ie: A random drug checkpoint without K9's)

[ricki]

Search and seizure is covered by the Fourth Amendment, so it is the same in every state.

A frisk, (also called a "Terry Stop", named for the case Terry v. Ohio), can be done anytime the officer has a concern for his safety. Although the intent was to allow the officer to do a pat down for weapons, the Court ruled is other evidence was found, it is admissible as long as the officer's actions were reasonable.

For example, finding a bindle of cocaine in your wallet would not be reasonable, as there is no expectation to have a weapon there. Finding a pot pipe in your front pocket is reasonable, as the front pocket could hold a weapon and the officer would recognize the pipe by "Plain Feel" (Minnesota v. Dickerson), which was expanded from the Plain View Doctrine (Arizona v. Hicks).

BQ: An exterior sniff by a K-9 is legal, as you have no expectation of privacy in the air surrounding your vehicle, but a random search without probable cause is not.

[clem84]

"How close is this to the truth", not even remotely. A pat down search, Frisk is for any contraband on any individual where there is a reason for the pat down and it is admissible in court.

[philibert63]

if they search you for safety reasons and find drugs ,your going to jail ..end of sentence ..play with fire your will get burned