State v. Lee, 162 Idaho 642

Officer Laurenson observed Trevor Lee driving; dispatch confirmed Lee’s license was suspended. Lee later exited a store and began walking; Laurenson stopped him.
During the stop Lee was noncompliant, repeatedly patted his pockets after being told not to, and was escorted to the patrol car where an officer conducted a Terry frisk.
During the frisk the officer felt a bulge of cylindrical items in Lee’s pocket, extracted several containers and a pocketknife despite Lee’s denial of consent.
After handcuffing and detaining Lee (telling him he would receive a citation for driving without privileges), the officer opened the containers, found suspected marijuana and methamphetamine, and then arrested Lee.
Lee moved to suppress the evidence; the district court denied suppression concluding the frisk was lawful but the container openings exceeded Terry and were saved by the search-incident-to-arrest exception; the court of appeals affirmed. Lee reserved the right to appeal and petitioned the Idaho Supreme Court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Lee)	Held
1) Was the Terry frisk reasonable and within scope?	Frisk was justified by Lee’s noncompliance and furtive movements; officer reasonably suspected he was armed.	Frisk was unjustified or exceeded Terry because officer’s conduct and facts did not support a fear of weapons.	Frisk was reasonable, but officer exceeded Terry’s scope by opening containers once they were determined not to be weapons.
2) Was opening the containers lawful as a search incident to arrest?	Search-incident-to-arrest is valid because officer had probable cause to arrest for driving without privileges prior to the search; contemporaneity suffices even if arrest was not then intended.	Search was not incident to arrest because officer had said he would issue a citation (not arrest); the evidence found produced the arrest—so the historical rationales for incident searches (safety and evidence preservation) were absent.	Search-incident-to-arrest did not justify opening the containers: once it was clear a citation (not an arrest) would be issued, the Chimel rationales did not support the search; evidence suppressed.

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (pat-down frisk for weapons justified by reasonable suspicion officer is armed and dangerous)
Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752 (scope of search incident to custodial arrest limited to area within arrestee's immediate control for weapons/evidence)
United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (a full search of a person is permissible incident to a lawful custodial arrest)
Knowles v. Iowa, 525 U.S. 113 (search-incident-to-arrest rationale does not extend to searches conducted after issuance of a citation in lieu of arrest)
Devenpeck v. Alford, 543 U.S. 146 (probable cause for arrest assessed objectively, independent of officer’s stated reasons)
State v. Watson, 143 Idaho 840 (discusses limits of Terry frisk and container manipulation)
State v. Faith, 141 Idaho 728 (officers exceeded Terry when they opened a container after determining it was not a weapon)
People v. Macabeo, 384 P.3d 1189 (Cal. 2016) (search-incident-to-arrest does not justify searches when it is clear no arrest will occur)