Section 6.26 Plain Feel Doctrine

• Library: DWI 2014

The plain feel doctrine allows a police officer to seize evidence that is discovered during a Terry (Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 8–9 (1968)) pat-down search without a warrant when it is “immediately apparent” that the item that the officer feels through the clothing is contraband. State v. Gantt,87 S.W.3d 330, 332–34 (Mo. App. W.D. 2002).

In Minnesota v. Dickerson,508 U.S. 366 (1993), the U.S. Supreme Court approved the “plain-feel” exception to the warrant requirement. The Court reasoned that:

If a police officer lawfully pats down a suspect’s outer clothing and feels an object whose contour or mass makes its identity immediately apparent, there has been no invasion of the suspect’s privacy beyond that already authorized by the...