A man convicted of possessing cocaine after a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer found drugs by shining a light down his pants should get a new trial because the search was unreasonable, the state Court of Appeals ruled.
The ruling in favour of Timothy Stone may serve as a warning to officers to more exactly describe the scope of their searches before they physically examine a suspect.
Officers said they spotted and recovered a pill bottle of crack between Stone's groin and testicles. A court sentenced him in March 2005 from roughly 10 1/2 years to 14 years in prison for drug and habitual felon convictions.
"We conclude that a reasonable person in defendant's circumstances would not have understood that he would be subjected to an inspection of his genitals," said Judge Linda McGee.
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