Observations of Several Officers Taken as a Whole Can Establish the Articulable Facts Necessary to Justify a Protective Sweep of an Area Not Immediately Adjacent to an Arrest Site, but the Area Searched Must Be Determined with Regard to the Exigencies of the Situation: Commonwealth v. Taylor

Authors

Barry J. Clegg

Abstract

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held the facts articulated by several police officers demonstrated that a search of the basement of a convenience store, not described in the warrant for the search of the store, was a valid protective sweep justified by the reasonable safety fears of the police officers. The court further held that a pill bottle removed from an individual's pocket while conducting a legal quick frisk of the individual was justified because the officer believed the bottle to be a weapon. However, the court held that contraband found in the coats of two individuals in the basement was not admissible as evidence because the coats were outside of the zone of the individuals' immediate control.

Commonwealth v. Taylor, 771 A.2d 1261 (Pa. 2001)

First Page

591

Recommended Citation

Barry J. Clegg, Observations of Several Officers Taken as a Whole Can Establish the Articulable Facts Necessary to Justify a Protective Sweep of an Area Not Immediately Adjacent to an Arrest Site, but the Area Searched Must Be Determined with Regard to the Exigencies of the Situation: Commonwealth v. Taylor, 40 Duq. L. Rev. 591 (2002).
Available at: https://dsc.duq.edu/dlr/vol40/iss3/8