Public Frisk Wasn’t End of Justified Detention

State police didn’t violate a man’s constitutional rights when they conducted a brief on-the-street pat-down before handcuffing him and taking him to a separate location to complete the more thorough hunt for drugs authorized by a search warrant, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Dec. 2 (State v. Watts, 2015 BL 394821, N.J., A-21, 12/2/15).

“The initial search was limited in scope and did not bar the police from moving defendant to a more controlled location to complete the search for drugs in accordance with the warrant,” the court said in an opinion by Justice Barry T. ...