State v. Evans

In State v. Evans, 67 Ohio St.3d 405, 1993 Ohio 186, 618 N.E.2d 162, the Ohio Supreme Court held that if in conducting a lawful pat-down search for weapons, an officer discovers an object on the suspect's person that the officer, through his or her sense of touch, reasonably believes could be a weapon, the officer may seize the object. In that case, during a pat-down, an officer felt an object in the suspect's pocket and was unable to conclude that the object was not a knife or other weapon. The officer retrieved from the suspect's pocket what turned out to be a large wad of money and a small packet of crack cocaine. The court held that, because the object was of such size and density that a reasonable officer could not discount the possibility that it was a weapon, the search did not violate Terry v. Ohio.