The United States Supreme Court affirmed. They held: 1) a police officer may seize non threatening contraband detected during a pat down search so long as the officer's search is strictly limited to that which is necessary for the discovery of weapons, but 2) in this case the Fourth Amendment did not permit the seizure of the cocaine where a) the officer determined that the lump was contraband only after squeezing, sliding and otherwise manipulating the contents of the pocket, which the officer already knew contained no weapons and b) because the officer's further search was constitutionally invalid in that it was not authorized by Terry v Ohio or any other exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement.
To see the entire Minnesota v. Dickerson decision.
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