State v. Chambers

Was the police officer entitled to interrogate a person who had come into the apartment where illegal drugs had been found during a valid consent search of such premises? Was there a reasonable basis for the officer’s suspicion that such person carried a weapon ?

Both questions must be answered affirmatively to make the pat-down of the defendant’s outer jacket pockets by the police officer proper, prudent and permissible. Each question is to be answered in the light of the surrounding circumstances. That is made clear in a very recent decision of the United States Supreme Court.1

*294Even though…