Second patdown permitted where belief armed
State v Carrillo (A-4889-18)
The main issue in this appeal from the trial court's denial of defendant's suppression motion without a testimonial hearing is whether the officer violated defendant's rights when he patted him down a second time, just minutes after the officer patted him down the first time and uncovered no weapons.
The court concludes that an officer may conduct a second pat-down when, giving weight to the unproductive first one, the circumstances preceding the second one still give the officer reason to believe the suspect is armed and dangerous. Because there exist issues of fact material to that question, the court reverses the trial court's order and remands for a testimonial hearing.
