Today, 4/21/09, The United States Supreme Court severely narrowed the common reading of New York v. Belton, 433 U.S. 454 (1981) allowing officers to search the vehicle and its contents of an arrestee as a search incident to a lawful arrest. As the story goes, Rodney Joseph Gant was arrested on a tip for driving with a suspended license. He was then cuffed and locked in the back of a patrol car. Gant’s car was then searched and a gun and drugs were recovered from his car for which Gant was prosecuted. At the suppression hearing, when Officer Griffith was asked why he searched the car he responded : “Because the law says we can do it.” But alas today the Court, in an opinion by our own Justice Stevens joined by Scalia, Souter,Thomas, and Ginsberg {the 4th amendment makes strange bedfellows!} held otherwise. The Court states:
“Police may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest”
Read all about it by cutting and pasting this link:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-542.pdf
