United States Eighth Circuit

In a prosecution for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, denial of a motion to suppress evidence obtained following a traffic stop is affirmed where: 1) based on the facts of the case, an officer had probable cause to stop defendant for traveling through a red light in violation of state law; 2) even assuming an arrest occurred under the circumstances, the officer had probable cause to arrest defendant for driving under the influence as defendant admitted to having just smoked a joint; 3) a subsequent pat-down search was justified as a search incident to arrest; and 4) defendant failed to demonstrate any bad faith in police's failure to preserve video evidence of the traffic stop.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/05/2008
• Published 12/05/2008

Judges

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel