Click on the case titles to link to the full case decision.
Carroll v. U.S., 267 U.S. 132 (1925)-Police may conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle stopped on traffic if there is probable cause to believe that the vehicle contains contraband or evidence. The search without a warrant is justified based on the exigent circumstance that a vehicle stopped on traffic could be quickly moved out of the city or jurisdiction of the investigating agency.
Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443 (1971)-A search warrant is required to search an automobile if it is parked and is not readily accessible by the suspect. In this case the suspect of a murder was in his residence and the vehicle was parked in the driveway. The court stated in part the following: "...no alerted criminal bent on flight, no fleeting opportunity on an open highway after a hazardous chase, no contraband or stolen goods or weapons, no confederates waiting to move the evidence, not even the inconvenience of a special police detail to guard the immobilized automobile. In short, by no possible stretch of the legal imagination can this be made into a case where 'it is not practicable to secure a warrant...'"
US v. Ragsdale, 471 F.2d 24 (5th Cir. 1972)(No Link)-A police officer developed probable cause to search a vehicle on traffic. Another officer on the scene did not have probable cause of his own. He, however, conducted the search. The court ruled that the search was valid.
US v. Roe, 495 F.2d 600 (10th Cir. 1974)(No Link)-A suspect does not need to be in his vehicle at the time of arrest in order for the vehicle to be searched incident to arrest. The suspect merely has to have the vehicle in his possession at the scene of the arrest. The entire passenger area can be searched.
Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 US 106(1977)-The driver can be ordered out of a vehicle, without suspicion, on routine traffic stops. The officer's safety greatly outweighs the inconvenience to the driver.
Delaware v. Prouse, 440 US 648(1979)-Non-standarized random traffic stops conducted for the purpose of checking driver licenses violates the Fourth Amendment.
There was a lawful custodial arrest.
The search was contemporaneous to the arrest.
The arrestee was an occupant of the vehicle just before the arrest.
The search is limited to the passenger area of the vehicle.
US v. Cortez, 449 US 411 (1981)-A vehicle can be stopped based on reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred, not just a traffic offense.
United States v. Ross, 456 US 798 (1982)-Held: Police officers who have legitimately stopped an automobile and who have probable cause to believe that contraband is concealed somewhere within it may conduct a warrantless search of the vehicle that is as thorough as a magistrate could authorize by warrant.
Florida v. Meyers, 466 U.S. 380 (1984)-"The justification to conduct a warrantless search of a car that has been stopped on the road - based on probable cause to believe there is evidence of crime inside it - does not vanish once the car has been impounded and immobilized."
California v. Carney, 471 U.S. 386 (1985)-A motor home is a vehicle and, therefore, is treated as such when it comes to search and seizure issues. Just because the vehicle is more like a home than most other vehicles, it is irrelevant to the issue. The court indicated that the motor home must be readily mobile. If the motor home is parked and set up as a residence, and steps have been taken to make the vehicle immobile, it will probably be considered a residence, not a vehicle.
United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S. 221, 235 (1985)-Where police have been unable to locate a person suspected of committing a past crime, a traffic stop based on reasonable suspicion can be made in order to ask questions and check identification. The police can also make a traffic stop based on information from a "wanted flyer" if the flyer was based on articulable facts supporting a reasonable suspicion that a person committed an offense.
United States v. Johns, 469 U.S. 478 (1985)-The warrantless search of the packages based on probable cause was not unreasonable merely because it occurred three days after the packages were unloaded from the trucks.
New York v. Class, 475 US 106 (1986)-A person does not have a privacy interest in the V.I.N. (vehicle identification number). Class was stopped on traffic for speeding and a cracked windshield. The officer wanted to inspect the V.I.N. located on the dash. The officer had to enter the vehicle and move items covering the V.I.N. When he entered the vehicle he found a gun. The court ruled that the steps to inspect the V.I.N. was reasonable and the gun was legitimately found in plain view.
Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367 (1987)-An officer can search the containers in a vehicle during the custodial inventory following an arrest. Department policy gave the officer discretion on whether to impound the vehicle, have someone pick it up, or leave it park. The Fourth Amendment does not require the officer to choose a lesser intrusive alternative to the impound. The impound and inventory were Constitutionally permissible actions. The court imposed two criteria for a proper vehicle inventory:
The agency must establish standardized criteria on how an inventory will be conducted.
The officer does not act in bad faith or for the sole purpose of conducting a warrantless search.
Alabama v. White, 496 US 325 (1990)-An anonymous tipster's information is completely lacking in reliability when taken by itself. Further police investigation that corroborates the tipster's information, however, can develop sufficient information to justify at least an investigatory stop.
California v. Acevedo, 500 US 565 (1991)-Police, in a search extending only to a container within an automobile, may search the container without a warrant where they have probable cause to believe that it holds contraband or evidence.
US v. Nielsen, 9 F.3d 1487 (10th Cir. 1993)(no link)-The smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle is probable cause to search the passenger area, but not the trunk.
US v. Sorenson, 72 F.3d 1444 (10th Cir. 1995)(no link)-The smell of marijuana and the finding of contraband on the defendant's person was probable cause to search the passenger area and trunk.
US v. Elliott, No. 96-8061 (10th Cir. 1996)(.pdf)-A law enforcement officer conducting a routine traffic stop may request a driver's license and vehicle registration, run a computer check, and issue a citation. When the driver has produced a valid license and proof of entitlement to operate the car, the driver must be allowed to proceed without further delay for additional questioning. Further questioning is permissible, however, if:
(1) "during the course of the traffic stop the officer acquires an objectively reasonable and articulable suspicion that the driver is engaged in illegal activity"; or
(2) "the driver voluntarily consents to the officer's additional questioning."
Whren v. U.S., 517 US 806 (1996)-Through the late 1980's and into the 1990's courts were embracing the idea that an officer's subjective reasons for making a traffic stop should be considered when ruling on the validity of seizures. If the court finds that an officer's subjective reasons for making the stop was for anything other than the initial traffic offense, and that reason lacks probable cause or reasonable suspicion, the court would dismiss the charges. The U.S. Supreme Court finally addressed these types of rulings in the Whren case. The court ruled that the objective not subjective reasons for making traffic stops should be considered. An officer's intent or motivation to make a traffic stop is not relevant to the Fourth Amendment standard of "reasonableness".
Maryland v. Wilson, 519 US 408(1997)-This case applied the Mimms case to the passengers. The same legitimate reasons an officer has to order the driver from the vehicle also applies to the passengers.
US v. Hunnicutt, 97-5087 (10th Cir. 1997)(.pdf)-Lengthening the detention for further questioning beyond that related to the initial stop is permissible in two circumstances:
The officer has an objectively reasonable and articulable suspicion illegal activity has occurred or is occurring.
Further questioning unrelated to the initial stop is permissible if the initial detention has become a consensual encounter.
A variety of factors may contribute to the formation of an objectively reasonable suspicion of illegal activity. Some of these factors include:
No proof of ownership of the vehicle.
Having no proof of authority to operate the vehicle.
Purchasing vehicle from someone that is not the registered owner.
Inconsistent statements about destination.
Driving under suspension.
Reluctance to stop.
United States v. Van Syckle, 957 F.Supp. 844(Texas)(1997)(no link)-The officer had no reasonable suspicion that Van Syckle had committed a violation of the law. The officer raced up behind Van Syckle and came extremely close to his vehicle. Van Syckle made a "hasty lane change" to get out of the officer's way. Van Syckle made the lane change without signaling. The officer stopped him. During the stop, the officer asked for consent to search. He found methamphetamine in the vehicle. The evidence was excluded because the officer's actions caused the traffic violation for which Van Syckle was stopped.
Knowles v. Iowa, 525 U.S. 113 (1998)-A police officer that stops someone's vehicle for a traffic offense and issues a summons cannot search the vehicle incident to the offense. This applies even if the person could have been arrested for the offense.
United States v. Hunnicutt, 135 F.3d 1345 (10th Cir.)(1998)-A police officer may extend the length of a traffic stop beyond the time necessary to conduct the initial stop under the following two circumstances:
The officer has "objectively reasonable and articulable suspicion illegal activity has occurred or is occurring."
The person voluntarily consents to remain with the officer.
Wyoming v. Houghton, 526 U.S. 295 (1999)-If there is probable cause to search a car, then police officers may inspect all areas capable of concealing the object of the search, including passengers' belongings.
United States v. Edwards, 242 F.3d 928, 937-38 (10th Cir. 2001)-The suspect was arrested approx. 150ft. away from his vehicle. The suspect was not seen by police in or around his vehicle prior to arrest. The vehicle cannot be searched incident to arrest because it was not in his immediate control.
U.S. v. Mercado, 307 F.3d 1226 (10th Cir. 2002)-The defendant's vehicle was towed to a repair shop. An officer was at the shop in plain clothes. The officer developed probable cause to search the vehicle. Because the vehicle was only temporarily immobile, he could search it without a warrant.
Thornton v. U.S., 541 U.S. 615 (2004)-(This case is no longer the standing case law. See Arizona v. Gant [2009]) The court expanded on the New York v. Belton case. The court said that a person does not have to be in a vehicle at the time of contact by police to do a search incident to arrest on the vehicle. The person only has to be in "close proximity, both temporally and spatially," for the search to be reasonable.
US v. Palmer, 03-5115 (10th Cir.)(2004)-If an officer has specific articulable facts that rise to a reasonable fear for his safety during a traffic stop, the officer can search a locked glove box.
US v. Petty, 03-3388 (8th Cir.)(2004)(.pdf)-Petty sought to exclude evidence found during a vehicle impound resulting from his arrest. The court determined that the impoundment of a vehicle within the guidelines of department policy, even if the vehicle was legally parked and caused no traffic hazard, was proper. The impound of the vehicle was part of the police department's "community caretaking" function.
Brendlin v. California, 000 U.S. 06-8120 (2007)-Held: When police make a traffic stop, a passenger in the car, like the driver, is seized for Fourth Amendment purposes and so may challenge the stop's constitutionality.
Arizona v. Gant, 000 U.S. 07-542 (2009)(.pdf)-The Supreme Court re-addressed the decisions in New York v. Belton and Thornton v. US. The court limited the search incident to arrest on a vehicle. In the Gant case, police arrested Gant for driving under suspension. They then conducted a search incident to arrest of the vehicle with Gant restrained in a police car. The Court stated that Police may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if it is reasonable to believe that the arrestee might access the vehicle at the time of the search or that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest. Access to the vehicle means a real likelihood that the arrestee can get in the vehicle. Basically, he must be in or by the vehicle and mobile. Once he is restrained in movement by officers' presence and/or other means of restraint , the search of the vehicle is not justified without further reason. The Court went on to say that officers may search a vehicle when genuine safety or evidentiary concerns encountered during the arrest of a vehicle’s recent occupant justify a search.
In the case of Gant, the court determined that the search was not justified for officer's safety because Gant was restrained in a police car. The officers also did not have any reason to believe that there was evidence in the vehicle related to Driving Under Suspension. If an officer has probable cause to believe evidence or contraband is in the vehicle or another vehicle exception applies, he can still search it without a warrant.
What does all this mean to police? The Court decided that officers can no longer do an automatic search of the vehicle incident to arrest on every traffic stop regardless of the arrest circumstances. There are two parts to this decision. The first part deals with a search of the vehicle for weapons as an officer’s safety issue. The second is a search for evidence or contraband.
Let’s start with a search of the vehicle incident to arrest for officer safety. The Court on numerous occasions in the opinion stated that the arrestee or possibly the other occupants have to have a reasonable possibility to access a weapon in the vehicle. They have to be in or near the vehicle and have the ability to access a weapon. If there are enough officers on scene to prevent the arrestee or occupants from reaching a weapon in the vehicle, or these subjects are restrained in police vehicles, then a search for a weapon is not justified. If an officer is using proper officer safety techniques before conducting a search by making sure the subjects are properly watched or secure to prevent an ambush or escape, then I cannot foresee any circumstance where an officer can legally search for a weapon without further reason. Remember this is a search for weapons outside any articulable facts leading an officer to reasonably believe there is a weapon in the vehicle.
The second justification for a search incident to arrest is the search for evidence or contraband. The Court made it clear that officers can no longer do a search incident to arrest on a vehicle to look for evidence unless there reasonably may be evidence in the vehicle that is related to the crime that lead to the arrest. Examples of this would be looking for open beer cans or liquor bottles on a Driving Under the Influence arrest, or searching for drugs on a drug related arrest.
This all deals specifically with a search incident to arrest of a vehicle. This case does not affect all the other exceptions to a vehicle search: Vehicle inventory, search based on probable cause, exigent circumstances, plain view, abandoned property, stop and frisk, and consent.
Arizona V. Johnson, 000 US 07–1122 (2009)(.pdf)-A vehicle was lawfully stopped on traffic for a violation. During the course of the traffic stop, one of the officers on the scene talked to the passenger, Johnson. The encounter was consensual and was not related to any criminal matter. The officer developed reasonable suspicion that Johnson may be armed and pat searched him. A gun was found and he was arrested. The Court determined that an officer’s inquiries into matters unrelated to the justification for the traffic stop do not convert the encounter into something other than a lawful seizure, so long as the inquiries do not measurably extend the stop’s duration. In a traffic-stop setting, the first Terry condition—a lawful investigatory stop—is met whenever it is lawful for police to detain an automobile and its occupants pending inquiry into a vehicular violation. The police need not have, in addition, cause to believe any occupant of the vehicle is involved in criminal activity. To justify a pat down of the driver or a passenger during a traffic stop, however, just as in the case of a pedestrian reasonably suspected of criminal activity, the police must harbor reasonable suspicion that the person subjected to the frisk is armed and dangerous.