Minnesota v. Dickerson
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| Minnesota v. Dickerson | ||||||||||
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| Argued March 3, 1993 Decided June 7, 1993 |
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| Holding | ||||||||||
| Court membership | ||||||||||
| Chief Justice: William Rehnquist Associate Justices: Byron White, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas |
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| Case opinions | ||||||||||
| Majority by: White Joined by: Rehnquist, Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas |
Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366 (1993),[1] was a 1993 Supreme Court case with between Dickerson and the state of Minnesota. On June 7th, 1993, there was a unanimous vote amongst the justices finding in favor of the state of Minnesota. Justice White gave the majority opinion of the court.
[edit] Background
Dickerson was in a known drug area. An officer investigated by ordering a pat down of Mr. Dickerson to search for any weapons. During that search, he felt a small lump in his coat. Without further evidence, he reached in and grabbed the lump and found it be be cocaine. In lower court, the defendant Dickerson moved that the cocaine be suppressed as evidence because the officer violated his 4th amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizures.
[edit] Ruling of the Courts
The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed. In affirming, the State Supreme Court held that both the stop and the frisk of respondent were valid under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U. S. 1, but found the seizure of the cocaine to be unconstitutional. Refusing to enlarge the "plain-view" exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrantWi requirement, the court appeared to adopt a categorical rule barring the seizure of any contraband detected by an officer through the sense of touch during a patdown search. The court further noted that, even if it recognized such a "plain-feel" exception, the search in this case would not qualify because it went far beyond what is permissible under Terry. [2]
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this decision unanimously.
[edit] References
- ^ 508 U.S. 366 Full text of the opinion courtesy of Findlaw.com.
- ^ MINNESOTA v. DICKERSON 508 U.S. 366 - US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez
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