State v. Woodruff

544 S.E.2d 290, 344 S.C. 537, 2001 S.C. App. LEXIS 106
CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedMarch 12, 2001
Docket3315
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 544 S.E.2d 290 (State v. Woodruff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Woodruff, 544 S.E.2d 290, 344 S.C. 537, 2001 S.C. App. LEXIS 106 (S.C. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

ANDERSON, Judge:

Ronald L. Woodruff appeals his conviction for trafficking in crack cocaine. Woodruff contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence pursuant to Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), and Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, 113 S.Ct. 2130, 124 L.Ed.2d 334 (1993). We reverse.

FACTS/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

At the suppression hearing, the trial court viewed two police video tape recordings which depicted a June 4, 1998 traffic stop and thirty minute detention. One of the video tapes came from Officer Matthew Durham’s patrol car. The second video tape was obtained from Officer James Littleton’s patrol car. Both officers testified at trial regarding the detention. The tapes, together with the testimony, reveal the following.

At approximately 10:22 a.m. on June 4, 1998, Officer Matthew Durham, with the Anderson County Sheriffs Department, stopped a vehicle for speeding. The driver of the automobile was Alex Graham. One of the vehicle’s windows was broken. Shortly after Officer Durham stopped the vehicle, Officer James Littleton arrived on the scene. Woodruff was a passenger in the vehicle. Officer Durham asked to see Graham’s driver’s license or identification, but Graham was unable to produce either. Graham told Officer Durham his last name was “Harriston” and provided an address and date of birth. Graham informed Officer Durham that he and Woodruff had been to Atlanta to “see some girls” and the vehicle belonged to Woodruff. Officer Durham called in the information Graham provided for verification, along with the automobile’s tag number. Officer Durham testified the resulting report indicated the car belonged to Robert Moore, who had been reported missing.

According to Officer Durham, Woodruff, when questioned, declared he owned the automobile, but he was unable to produce a registration for the car. Upon further questioning, Woodruff indicated he and Graham had taken Graham’s girl *542 friend to Atlanta to “drop her off.” Officer Durham stated Woodruff provided several different names during the stop.

About 10:34 a.m., Officer Durham issued Graham a warning ticket for speeding and asked him for permission to search the car. Graham consented to the search.

At approximately 10:35 a.m., prior to the vehicle search, Woodruff got out of the car. Officer Durham conducted a pat-down on both Graham and Woodruff. Neither search revealed weapons. The vehicle search, which lasted approximately ten minutes, produced a small set of scales and a number of identification cards, none of which depicted either Graham or Woodruff. Officer Durham stated Woodruff claimed to be one of the persons pictured on one of the identification cards, but the claim proved to be false.

After the vehicle search, Officer Durham searched Woodruff a second time. On direct examination, Officer Durham gave the following account of the second search:

A. At that time after all the names and anything was adding up — kept finding different IDs, the inconsistencies with their stories, the busted window, — at that time I did a more thorough search on the passenger using my hands and went down through his groin area and at that time I felt a bulge in his groin area.
Q. And what did you do when you felt that bulge?
A. Asked the subject what was in his pants.
Q. And what did he tell you?
A. He pulled his britches out and at that time I could visually see the cocaine in his pants.
Q. Did you remove it?
A. No, ma’am.
Q. Who removed it?
A. I asked the subject to remove it for me.

On cross-examination, Officer Durham testified as follows regarding the second search:

A. At that time we started finding more IDs. I think he produced the ID and we got to finding IDs in the car. The stories that they were giving weren’t adding up as to where they said they were going and where they *543 were coming from and the window being busted out of the car. Supposedly now he’s a missing person out of North Carolina, and then he goes from there to that he’s not even the owner of the car — At that time I decided I may have missed something, so, I searched him again.
Q. Okay, when you patted him down the first time, youdidn’t find any weapons?
A. No, sir.
Q. You didn’t expect to find any weapons when you patted him down again, did you?
A. At that time I wasn’t looking for weapons.
Q. Well, what were you looking for?
A. I was looking to see if there was any more IDs or anything else on him that made me believe that he isn’t who he says he is.
Q. And the second time you searched him this was a more extensive search, wasn’t it?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. But, — you felt a bulge in his pants.
A. That’s correct.
Q. Okay, did that bulge feel like a knife?
A. A knife?
Q. Yeah.
A. No.
Q. Did it feel like a gun?
A. No.
Q. Did it feel like brass knuckles?
A. No.
Q. Did it feel like any type of weapon?
A. No.
Q. What did it feel like?
A. At the time I wasn’t sure; that’s why I asked him what he had in his pants and at that time he pulled his waistband out and when he did that I looked down in *544 his pants and you could visually see the cocaine in the bag.

Approximately thirty minutes elapsed between the time Officer Durham made the traffic stop and the time he conducted the second search of Woodruff. The material seized from Woodruff was determined to be 30.34 grams of crack cocaine.

LAW/ANALYSIS

Woodruff argues the trial court erred in refusing to suppress the crack cocaine because it was seized pursuant to an unlawful and unreasonable thirty minute Terry search. We agree.

I. Law

The Fourth Amendment guarantees “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const, amend IV.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
544 S.E.2d 290, 344 S.C. 537, 2001 S.C. App. LEXIS 106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-woodruff-scctapp-2001.