Gilbert v. State, 379 S.W.3d 774

Gilbert, a back-seat passenger, was in a vehicle stopped at a roadblock around 10 p.m. for license verification; the driver could not produce a valid license and the front-seat passenger also lacked ID.
The officers directed the driver and front passenger to exit to speak with them; none could identify their origin or destination with certainty.
Officer Brown noticed Gilbert remained in the back seat, asked him for identification (which he did not have) and then asked him to step out of the vehicle.
Gilbert did not directly answer whether he had anything illegal or a weapon, fumbled for about 30 seconds before saying he did not; his body language raised Brown’s concern that he was lying, prompting a frisk.
During the frisk, Brown felt a gun in Gilbert’s waistband and another officer recovered a loaded gun from Gilbert; a later search at the jail revealed a large sum of money and two plastic baggies of cocaine.
Gilbert was charged with possession of cocaine, possession of firearms by a certain person, and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms (the latter later nol pros); he moved to suppress the gun and cocaine, which the circuit court denied, leading to a conditional guilty plea and a forty-five-year sentence concurrent with other counts; the appeal challenges the suppression ruling.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether exiting the vehicle during a valid stop was an illegal seizure.	Gilbert argues the exit was unlawful seizure.	Brown contends Maryland v. Wilson permits passengers to exit during a valid stop and the roadblock/stop was lawful.	No illegal seizure; validated by Wilson.
Whether Brown had reasonable suspicion to frisk Gilbert for weapons.	Gilbert asserts no objective, articulable facts supported a frisk.	Brown relied on totality of circumstances including delayed response, body language, and lack of ID suggesting danger; supported by statutory factors.	Reasonable suspicion existed; frisk was lawful.

Reeves v. State, 80 Ark.App. 61 (Ark. App. 2002) (independent review of suppression with credibility deference)
Shaver v. State, 332 Ark. 13 (Ark. 1998) (preponderance standard for reviewing suppression orders)
Davis v. State, 351 Ark. 406 (Ark. 2003) (reasonable-suspicion-based searches underpin frisk upholding)
Muhammad v. State, 337 Ark. 291 (Ark. 1999) (gun-frisk standards under reasonable suspicion)
State v. Barter, 310 Ark. 94 (Ark. 1992) (bulge in clothing as indicative factor for frisk)
Pettigrew v. State, 64 Ark.App. 339 (Ark. App. 1998) (necessity of objective facts for self-protective searches)
Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40 (U.S. 1968) (constitutional grounds for searches based on articulable facts)