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MN: A "wardrobe assist" of pulling up saggy pants was not a search; it led to feeling the weight of a gun

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Pulling up a defendant’s saggy pants that came down to his knees when he assumed the position outside his car [either because he wore them that way or because of the gun in his pocket weighing them down] was a “wardrobe assist” and not a search. State v. Wiggins, A09-1987 (Minn. App. September 14, 2010): This case requires us to determine the constitutionality of a novel police procedure which, as far as we can tell, has never been reviewed on appeal by this court or any other. An officer investigating a suspected drug deal directed appellant Frank Wiggins from a car, ordered him to raise his hands high overhead, and then discovered a handgun in his pocket when she hoisted up his sagging pants that had dropped to hang around his knees...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 16, 2010 (boomark / email).