Pat-Down Search Justified by the Objective Existence of Probable Cause to Arrest, Even Though the Officer Did Not Intend to Arrest at the Time of the Search.

In a full-fledged opinion by Justice Saxe, the First Department determined that a pat-down search was justified because probable cause for arrest existed (for DWI) even though the officer did not intend to arrest the defendant, whom he had just directed to step out of his car, at the time of the search.  The Court wrote:

This appeal addresses whether suppression should have been granted where the police stopped defendant’s car for a traffic infraction, and, based on what the arresting officer heard and observed, defendant was asked to exit the car and patted down; he was placed under arrest only after a knife was found in his pocket.  Because the arresting officer candidly admitted that he had not intended to arrest the driver before discovering the knife, defendant contends that the officer lacked the requisite predicate for the search and that therefore we must suppress the knife and other fruits of the search that followed.  We disagree.

The arresting officer’s factual testimony … established that the necessary predicate existed for each step taken by the officer.  Because … we find that at the time of the patdown the officer actually had probable cause to arrest defendant for driving while intoxicated, the search was permissible and the fruits of the search were admissible.  While we rely on the factual testimony of the arresting officer, we are not bound by his subjective assessment at the time regarding the nature and extent of his authority to act. *  *  *

…[W]e conclude that, even if the police are incorrect in their assessment of the particular crime that gives them grounds to conduct the search, or if they incorrectly assess the level of police activity that is justified by their knowledge, where the facts create probable cause to arrest, a search must be permissible.  People v Reid, 7360 Ind. 717/09 First Dept. 1-3-13.