Washington v. Compton

Trooper Owen of the Washington State Patrol stopped a vehicle driven by appellant Compton for two minor traffic violations. The trooper testified that he detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle as the appellant was producing his drivers license. The appellant was asked to step from the vehicle and put his hands on top of it. The officer then "frisked" him for weapons, the search being a pat-down procedure which resulted in Trooper Owens feeling a small round object in a right front pocket which he judged to be a film canister. When Compton put his hand down inside his shirt Trooper Owen grabbed it and the appellant came up with such a canister. Inside the canister were several small blue pills which were found to be LSD. A further search of the car revealed a pipe having a very strong odor of marijuana and a plastic bag containing a small amount of a greenishbrown vegetable substance.