Transcript Vehicle Stops

Chapter Eight – Motor
Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
Rolando V. del Carmen
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Stops
– The General Rule for Stops: Reasonable
Suspicion of Criminal Activity Required
• United States v. Cortez (1981)
• United States v. Montgomery (1977)
• United States v. Arvizu (1981)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Stops
– Roadblocks: An Exception to the “Reasonable
Suspicion” Requirement
• Roadblocks to Control Drunk Driving
– Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz (1990)
• Roadblocks to Control the Flow of Illegal Aliens
– United States v. Martinez-Fuerte (1976)
• Stops to Check a Driver’s License and Vehicle
Registration
– United States v. Prichard (1981)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Stops
– Roadblocks: An Exception to the “Reasonable
Suspicion” Requirement
• Roadblocks to Obtain Information from Motorists
about a Hit-and-Run Accident
– Illinois v. Lidster (2004)
• Roadblocks to Detect Evidence of Criminal
Wrongdoing
– Indianapolis v. Edmond (2000)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Stops
– What an Officer May Do After a Vehicle Stop
• Based on General Law Enforcement Authority
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Order the driver to get out of the vehicle
Order passengers to get out of the vehicle
Ask the driver to produce documents required by state law
Question the driver and passengers
Locate and examine the Vehicle Identification Number
Seize items in plain view
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Stops
– What an Officer May Do After a Vehicle Stop
• Based on Reasonable Suspicion
– Require drunk-driving suspects to take a
Breathalyzer test
– Search the passenger compartment for weapons if
there is reasonable suspicion of a threat to officer
safety
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Stops
– What an Officer May Do After a Vehicle Stop
• Based on Probable Cause
– Search the Vehicle
– Search passengers’ belongings
– Make an arrest
• Based on Consent
– Search the car
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Stops
– Traffic Stops as Pretexts for Vehicle Searches
• Whren v. United States (1996)
• State of Washington v. Ladson (No. 65801–3 [1999])
– Vehicle Stops Based on Racial Profiles Alone
• United States v. Sokolow (1989)
• Easley v. Cromartie (2001)
• United States v. Travis (6th Cir. 1995)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Stops
– Consensual Searches and the Freedom to Leave
• Ohio v. Robinette (1996)
– Arrest for a Minor (non-jailable) Traffic
Offense
• Atwater v. City of Lago Vista (2000)
– The Arrests of Passengers in a Vehicle
• Maryland v. Pringle (2003)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Searches
– The Leading Case on Vehicle Searches and
Warrants
• Carroll v. United States (1925)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Searches
– Warrantless vehicle searches
– Automatic searches during the issuance of
traffic citations
• Knowles v. Iowa (1998)
– Searches of passenger compartments
• New York v. Belton (1981)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Searches
– Searches of the Passenger Compartment
After a Lawful Arrest When the Suspect
Was Not in the Vehicle When Arrested
• Thornton v. United States (2004)
– Warrantless Searches of Trunks and
Closed Packages in Trunks
• United States v. Ross (1982)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Searches
– Searches of Locked Trunks or Glove
Compartments
• State v. Wells (Sup. Ct. Fla. 1989)
– Dog Sniffs After a Traffic Stop
• Illinois v. Caballes (2005)
– Searches That are Not Contemporaneous
• United States v. Johns (1985)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Searches
– Warrantless Searches When There is Time
to Obtain a Warrant
• Chambers v. Maroney (1970)
• Florida v. Meyers (1984)
• Maryland v. Dyson (1999)
– The Extent of Car Searches and the
Objective Reasonableness Rule
• Florida v. Jimeno (1991)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Searches
– Warrantless Searches of Containers in a
Car
• California v. Acevedo (1991)
• United States v. Chadwick (1977)
• Arkansas v. Sanders (1979)
– Seizures of Vehicles Found in Public Places
• Florida v. White (1999)
– Seizures of Motor Homes without a Warrant
• California v. Carney, (471 U.S. 386 [1985])
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Searches
– The Use of Beepers to Detect Cars
• United States v. Knotts (1983)
• United States v. Karo (1984)
– Immigration and Border Searches of
Vehicles
• United States v. Flores-Montano (2004)
– Other Valid Car Searches
• Cady v. Dombrowski (1973)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 Vehicle Inventory Searches
– Warrantless Vehicle Inventory Searches
Immediately After an Arrest
• Colorado v. Bertine (1987)
• Florida v. Wells (1990)
– Warrantless Inventory Searches of
Vehicles Impounded by Police
• South Dakota v. Opperman (1976)
• Dyke v. Taylor Implement Manufacturing
Company (1968)
Motor Vehicle Stops, Searches and
Inventories
 The Importance of State Laws and
Departmental Policies