State v. Brockel

SANDSTROM, Justice.

[¶ 1] Phillip Brockel appeals a criminal judgment entered after his conditional guilty plea to the charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemean- or, following the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence. We reverse and remand the district court judgment, concluding the court erred when it concluded, as a matter of law, it was permissible for an officer to conduct a pat-down search of Brockel before he was placed in a highway patrol vehicle.

I

[¶ 2] On December 26, 2006, North Dakota Highway Patrol Officer Thomas Iver-son stopped Brockel…