Thomas v. State, 8 A.3d 1195

On January 23, 2009, a confidential informant identified Keene Thomas as a heroin dealer operating from Riverside Housing Projects and 314 East 23rd Street, predicting a large heroin shipment that day.
Detective Janvier observed Thomas at 314 East 23rd Street with another man, carrying multiple bags into a home, and later saw him depart for the Riverside area toward a known drug locale.
Detective Janvier broadcast a radio description of Thomas (name, vehicle, DOB, clothing) to responding officers, who then encountered several men matching the description in front of a restaurant.
Detective Jordan stopped Thomas and others based on the radio description and, after identifying himself as a police officer, asked about weapons or contraband; Thomas reportedly consented to a pat-down search.
During the pat-down, Jordan felt an object he believed to be drugs; Thomas claimed it was weed, and a subsequent pat-down uncovered 208 bags of heroin, marijuana, and over $1,100 in cash.
Detective Janvier had probable cause to arrest Thomas based on her direct observations corroborating the informant’s tip and Thomas’ described movements.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Jordan’s stop was supported by reasonable suspicion	Thomas; lack of individual-specific suspicion	Thomas; description-based stop was insufficient	Stop upheld; description from radio dispatch justified
Whether the pat-down and subsequent discoveries were admissible under Terry	Thomas; lack of individualized suspicion taints pat-down	Thomas; station authorized by radio-based description allowed stop and frisk	Pat-down permissible; evidence admissible
Whether probable cause existed to arrest Thomas at the time of the stop	Thomas; insufficient corroboration for probable cause	Thomas; Janvier’s observations plus informant corroboration created probable cause	Probable cause established by totality of the circumstances
Whether the evidence would be excluded due to illegality but saved by inevitable discovery	Thomas; suppression warranted absent direct questioning	Thomas; drugs would have been inevitably discovered during lawful arrest/search	Inevitable discovery doctrine applies; evidence admissible

Terry v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1968) (reasonable suspicion justifies stop and frisk)
State v. Cooley, 457 A.2d 352 (Del. 1983) (limits and uses of Terry stops in Delaware)
Cook v. State, 374 A.2d 264 (Del. 1977) (radio description supports investigative stops)
Purnell v. State, 832 A.2d 714 (Del. 2003) (informant reliability supports reasonable suspicion)
Hardin v. State, 844 A.2d 982 (Del. 2004) (inevitable discovery despite initial illegality)
United States v. Brown, 448 F.3d 239 (3d Cir. 2006) (distinguishes reliance on radio dispatch from personal observation)
Maxwell v. State, 624 A.2d 926 (Del. 1993) (probable cause and totality of the circumstances standard)