[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by LSxJunkie

I didn't take Crim Pro too long ago, let me see what I remember.

(Not a lawyer)

If he was removed from the vehicle and patted down (allowed, for officer safety) any hard item in a pocket could give rise to a protective sweep of the vehicle, IIRC. Also, if he had actually committed a traffic violation, they could have simply placed him under arrest for the pretext, left him next to the vehicle, and then performed a search incident to arrest. Criminal procedure avoidance. It's a shitty move, but it's certainly been done.

Terry did not create a bright line 20 minute rule. If he were to raise a 1983 suit on 4th Amendment grounds, the court would look at the totality of the circumstances, including the type of crime he was being stopped for, the pretext used to stop him, if any at all, his cooperation, the amount of information the police had at the time, and so-on and so-forth. Detaining someone for 20 minutes is too long for a turn signal violation with nothing more. Detaining someone for 20 minutes on suspicion that he had participated in an armed robbery? More than reasonable.

He wasn't pulled over for any traffic violation so that doesn't apply. OP didn't have to let them search his car, he offered it up to them, he didn't need to do that. My only stab at a 1983 case involved a 23 minute traffic stop that was found to be unreasonable under the circumstances. Though there is no brightline time limit established by terry, most of the attorneys that I've spoken with agree that the clock really starts to work against officers after 30 minutes or so...