U.S. v. McPhaul

In prosecution on charge of felon in possession of body armor that arose out of officer’s pat down of defendant after traffic stop, Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress body armor, even though defendant argued that its discovery was product of unconstitutional search. Record showed that defendant was lawfully stopped by officer after officer noticed that defendant made improper right turn from center lane and drove through private property to avoid red light, and after officer discovered that car was registered to defendant whose license had been suspended. Moreover, defendant led officer on mile-long “slow speed” chase even though officer had activated his lights. As such, because officer had probable cause to stop defendant’s vehicle and to charge him for various traffic violations, as well as felony charge of resisting law enforcement officer while in vehicle, officer was allowed to pat down defendant and to discover body armor. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could sentence defendant to 24-month term of incarceration, based in part on defendant’s use of body armor in connection with another felony offense, where defendant was wearing body armor during his “slow-speed” chase that formed bass of felony charge of resisting law enforcement officer while in vehicle.