Vehicle Searches by Police
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a recent ruling in the case of Arizona v. Gant, ruled 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.
In this case, Gant was arrested for driving on a suspended license, handcuffed, and locked in a patrol car before officers searched his car and found cocaine in a jacket pocket. Gant was charged with drug offenses. His attorney filed a motion to suppress the evidence claiming that the police conducted an impermissible warrantless search. The trial court denied his motion to suppress the evidence and he was convicted of drug offenses.
The Supreme Court made clear that warrantless searches are per se unreasonable, subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions. The Court rejected a broad reading of prior case law that would permit a vehicle search incident to a recent occupant’s arrest even if there were no possibility the arrestee could gain access to the vehicle at the time of the search. In this case, five officers handcuffed and secured Gant and the two other suspects in separate patrol cars before the search began. Gant clearly could not have accessed his car at the time of the search. An evidentiary basis for the search was also lacking as Gant was arrested for driving with a suspended license – an offense for which police could not reasonably expect to find evidence in Gant’s car.
If you have been arrested on drug charges in New Jersey as a result of drugs being found in your automobile, call the law offices of Lependorf & Silverstein. We are experienced in reviewing all of the facts of a case and making the appropriate motions to make sure that your rights are not violated.
