United States v. David P. Bizier

WOODLOCK, District Judge.

The sole issue in this appeal from a criminal judgment for possession with intent to distribute cocaine is whether a motion to suppress the subject cocaine should have been granted when the contraband was seized in a warrantless body search conducted immediately before the defendant’s formal arrest. We find there was probable cause, independent of the cocaine seized, to arrest the defendant before the search. Consequently, we affirm the conviction.

I

The defendant-appellant David P. Bizier became the focus of a narcotics investigation after a confidential informant told…