On the evening of November 9th, 1989, while exiting an apartment building with a history of drug trafficking, Timothy Dickerson spotted police officers and turned to walk in the opposite direction. In response, the officers commanded Dickerson to stop and proceeded to frisk him. An officer discovered a lump in Dickerson’s pocket of his jacket, and, upon further investigation, the officer believed it to be cocaine wrapped in cellophane. The officer reached into Dickerson’s pocket and confirmed that the lump was a small bag of crack cocaine. Dickerson was charged with possession of a controlled substance. Respondent requested that the cocaine be excluded from evidence, but the trial court denied his request and he was found guilty.
The issue
The issue