Is a Pat Frisk Required before a formalized search?

During the course of a stop, if an officer believes an individual to be armed, a pat frisk is first required to determine whether that item is in fact a weapon. Law enforcement officers are not permitted to conduct a search without probable cause and either a warrant or exigent circumstances divesting them of the warrant requirement.

In the case of Commonwealth v. Rutledge, decided on July 25, 2014, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals upheld the District Court Judge’s ruling that a firearm should be suppressed for failure of the officers to conduct a preliminary pat frisk. Instead of conducting a pat frisk of the backpack to determine the contents of the bag, the bag was simply removed from the vehicle and searched.

The 2003 decision of Commonwealth v. Pagan, as cited by the Rutledge decision, sets forth the parameters controlling the steps an officer must take when investigating the presence of a suspected weapon. Specifically, the officers are permitted to employ minimally invasive measures necessary to learn whether a suspect is armed. That means that where a pat frisk can establish whether a weapon is present or not, courts have required that preliminary pat frisk prior to any formalized search.

In the Rutledge scenario, the officers failed to take the proper steps to determine whether a frisk would clearly determine the presence of a weapon. Thus, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals upheld the decision that the firearm found within that backpack should be suppressed.

If you are facing criminal charges involving these or other search and seizure issues throughout Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk County is Massachusetts, please contact Criminal Attorney Kristen F. Bonavita for a free consultation at 978-376-6746.