SAN DIEGO DISTRICT ATTORNEY The Fourth Amendment and ...

could see the apparent outline of a pistol, taking the
fanny pack from the defendant and unzipping the
outer compartment to remove what was in fact
determined to be a pistol was not unreasonable.
(People v. Ritter (1997) 54 Cal.App.4 th 274.)
When an object is felt which might be a weapon of any
sort, that object may then be removed and inspected.
(People v. Snyder (1992) 11 Cal.App.4 th 389; bottle;
People v. Atmore (1970) 13 Cal.App.3 rd 244, 247; shotgun
shell.)
When an officer reasonably believes the suspect is reaching
for a weapon, the officer need not first undertake a
patdown search to palpate the object the suspect is reaching
for. (People v. Wigginton (1973) 35 Cal.App.3 rd 732, 737-
740; People v. Superior Court [Holmes] (1971) 15
Cal.App.3 rd 806, 813; People v. Atmore (1970) 13
Cal.App.3 rd 244, 247-248; People v. Woods (1970) 6
Cal.App.3 rd 832, 838; People v. Sanchez (1967) 256
Cal.App.2 nd 700, 703-704; People v. Rosales (1989) 211
Cal.App.3 rd 325, 329.)
P.C. § 833.5: California provides legal authority for peace officers
to detain and “conduct a limited search” of a person the officer has
“reasonable cause” to believe has a firearm or other deadly
weapon and to seize any weapon found. If the person is convicted
of a charge related to the firearm or weapon, it shall be deemed a
nuisance and disposed of pursuant to P.C. §§ 18000 & 18005
(formerly, P.C. § 12028).
Problems:
Note: In that most of the rules on “patdown searches” are
from constitutionally-based case decisions, anywhere they
might differ from the language of this statute, the case law
is likely to take precedence.
During a “consensual encounter?” A patdown is probably
not lawful, although it may never become an issue in that if
an officer observes something giving him or her a
reasonable suspicion that the consensually encountered
person may be armed, that same reasonable suspicion
would likely elevate the situation into one justifying a
lawful detention as well as a patdown. (See People v. Lee
© 2012 Robert C. Phillips. All rights reserved
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