McCracken v. State

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), permits a law enforcement officer who has stopped an individual reasonably suspected of criminal activity to conduct a cursory search — a “frisk” — of that individual if the officer reasonably suspects the individual is carrying a weapon. This “strictly circumscribed” intrusion on the suspect’s privacy, however, “must be limited to that which is necessary for the discovery of weapons which might be used to harm the officer or others nearby.” Id. at 26, 88 S.Ct. 1868. Yet, if the officer, while conducting a proper Terry frisk,…