United States v. Adell

TERRY, Associate Judge:

After appellee Adell was stopped by the police for a traffic violation, a police officer recovered a quantity of cocaine inside a plastic bag which the officer removed from Adell’s pocket. The trial court ruled that the officer had violated Adell’s Fourth Amendment rights when he reached into the pocket and granted a motion to suppress the cocaine. We affirm, but on a ground different from that relied upon by the trial court.

I

At about 6:00 p.m. on June 14, 1994, two police officers stopped Adell’s car on Florida Avenue, N.W., because it lacked a front license plate and…