United States v. Ralph Donald Tharpe

DYER, Circuit Judge:

Ralph Tharpe appealed his firearms conviction contending that a pat-down search which led to the discovery of a gun was unconstitutional, and that the gun should have been excluded as evidence by the district court. A panel majority of this Court reversed, finding that the search could not be justified under Terry v. Ohio, 1968, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, since the officer who conducted the search did not explicitly testify that he feared he was in danger because Tharpe might be armed. 5 Cir., 526 F.2d 326 (1976). The Court took *1100this case en banc because it…