Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
www.EJEsquire.comOrange County DUIand Criminal Defense Attorney
If the police searched your vehicle and found evidence
against you the search may be illegal. You should talk to an Orange County criminal defense lawyer
because if the search was illegal, the evidence cannot be used against you.
For many years the rule has been that if the police arrest
you in or near your car then they can
search your car without a warrant—called the Belton rule. That rule has been overturned by the United States
Supreme Court and the police no longer have an automatic right to search your
car just because they arrested you in or around the car.
The Belton rule
sprang from the 1981 United States Supreme Court case New York v. Belton. The Court in Belton reasoned that the police should be allowed to look for
weapons that the arrestee might use as well as for evidence that the arrested
person may have stashed in the car. This rule was expanded over the years to
allow police to search the trunk as well as the passenger compartment. The
reasoning for this rule was flawed on its face—if someone is handcuffed how can
a weapon within the interior of the arrestee’s car possibly pose a threat to
the arresting officer?
In the recent Supreme Court case of Arizona v. Gant the Court acknowledged this patent flaw and
overturned the Belton rule and held
that the police can “search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest
only when the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the
passenger compartment at the time of the search” or “its reasonable to believe
the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest.” This means that the
police must be in actual danger of a possible assault before the arrestee is
handcuffed or the police must have PROBABLE
CAUSE to believe that specific evidence may be hidden.
This constitutes a major change in search and seizure law.
If you are facing charges call the Law Offices of EJ Stopyro today at (949) 559-5500.
Talk to an experienced Orange Countycriminal defense lawyer about your case—the consultation is free and
confidential.
Law Offices of EJ Stopyro
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