State v. Bean, 2016 Ohio 876

At ~1:10 a.m. on a rural road, Deputy Bowling stopped a vehicle for driving well below the 55 mph limit; four men were inside, including appellant Desmond Bean (driver).
Officer checks indicated two occupants had outstanding warrants (one later proved a "sound-alike").
Deputies observed an orange syringe cap on the rear floorboard; during a pat-down of a rear passenger (Ingersoll) an officer was stuck by a syringe and methamphetamine was found in Ingersoll's shoe.
All occupants were removed, frisked, handcuffed, and placed in cruisers; Bean was frisked by Deputy Bowling (no items found) while wearing a bulky zipped Carhartt jacket.
Deputy Gabbard then removed Bean from the cruiser, unzipped the jacket because he could not feel underneath it, felt syringes and bags in an inside pocket, and seized heroin and syringes after Bean declined to identify the items.
Bean was indicted for possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia, moved to suppress the evidence, pled no contest after the motion was denied, and appealed the suppression denial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Were the pat-downs of Bean reasonable under the Fourth Amendment/Lozada?	Stop and the surrounding facts justified protective frisks to avoid dangerous conditions; searches were necessary and minimal.	Pat-downs (especially first ones) were unreasonable and violated Lozada because officers had no specific belief Bean was armed or dangerous.	Pat-downs were reasonable: initial frisk justified by officer-safety concerns (late hour, multiple occupants, warrants, visible syringe cap, officer needle-stick); second frisk reasonable given ongoing narcotics investigation and safety concerns.
Was seizure of items from Bean lawful under the plain-feel doctrine?	Officer immediately recognized syringes/bags as contraband during a lawful pat-down and did not manipulate them; seizure permitted.	Seizure was unlawful unless identity of items was immediately apparent; defendant argues items were not plainly identifiable as contraband.	Seizure upheld: totality of circumstances gave probable cause to associate felt items with contraband and the officer did not impermissibly manipulate them.

State v. Lozada, 92 Ohio St.3d 74 (Ohio 2001) (officer may search driver for weapons before placing in patrol car if needed to avoid dangerous condition and is least intrusive means)
State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St.3d 152 (Ohio 2003) (standard of appellate review for suppression rulings)
Bowling Green v. Godwin, 110 Ohio St.3d 58 (Ohio 2006) (traffic stops subject to Fourth Amendment reasonableness)
Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106 (1977) (officer may order driver out of vehicle for safety during traffic stop)
Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. 408 (1997) (Mimms rationale extends to passengers)
Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366 (1993) (plain-feel doctrine: officer may seize object during lawful pat-down if its identity as contraband is immediately apparent)