Gow v. People

JUSTICE GABRIEL delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 In this case, we are asked to decide whether Tommy Allen Gow's federal and state constitutional rights were violated when he was subjected to a pat down and search of a box that he was carrying before accepting a courtesy ride with a sheriff's deputy. 1 We now conclude that the pat down and search of the box were constitutionally permissible because on the facts as found by the trial court, Gow initiated the encounter with the deputy by asking for a courtesy ride and *1221 then voluntarily and expressly consented to the pat down and search of…