search incident to arrest

May an Officer Search a Vehicle Incident to an Arrest for DWI?

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In Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (2009), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that an officer may “search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only when the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the passenger compartment” or it is “reasonable to believe evidence relevant to the crime of arrest might be found in the vehicle.” Gant involved an arrest for driving with a suspended license, and the Court concluded that was “an offense for which police could not expect to find evidence in the passenger compartment” of the arrestee’s car.

But what about DWI? If an officer arrests a driver for DWI and secures the driver in the officer’s cruiser, may the officer search the driver’s vehicle because it is reasonable to believe that evidence of impaired driving will be found in the vehicle? Yes, at least on the facts before it, ruled the Court of Appeals of North Carolina in State v. Martinez, __ N.C. App. __, 795 S.E.2d 386 (2016). This post summarizes Martinez and considers searches incident to DWI arrests more broadly.

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Can a Vehicle Search Incident to Arrest Include the Trunk?

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In Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (2009), the Supreme Court ruled that a motor vehicle may be searched incident to the arrest of a recent occupant “only if [1] the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or [2] it is reasonable to believe the vehicle … Read more

Riley and Good Faith

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The Supreme Court ruled in Riley v. California that cell phones can’t be searched incident to arrest. Jessie explained in yesterday’s post that Riley applies to cases that were pending when it was decided. Does that mean that the results of all the cell phone searches incident to arrest conducted before Riley was decided must … Read more

Supreme Court Hears Cell Phone Search Incident to Arrest Cases

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Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard two cases regarding whether law enforcement officers may search a suspect’s cell phone incident to arrest. Generally, the answer to that question in North Carolina has been yes, as I discussed here. But it sounds like a new rule may be coming soon. The cases. In United States v. Wurie, … Read more

Cell Phone Searches Headed to the Supreme Court?

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In a post last week, I mentioned that it looks increasingly likely that Supreme Court will grant certiorari in a case considering cell phone searches. In this post, I’ll support that remark by describing two cases in which certiorari petitions have been filed and explaining why each is a strong candidate for Supreme Court review. … Read more

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Searching Cars for Evidence of DWI

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Is it reasonable to believe that the car an impaired driver is operating contains evidence of the DWI? That’s the question law enforcement officers must answer in a post-Gant world before searching the vehicle recently operated by a defendant arrested for DWI and secured outside the vehicle. Review. The United States Supreme Court held in … Read more

Search Incident to the Arrest of an Occupant of a Vehicle: Review and Update (Part II)

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This topic was divided in two parts. This is Part II. Part I was posted yesterday. In yesterday’s blog post, I discussed the United States Supreme Court in 2009 ruling in Arizona v. Gant that significantly restricted an officer’s authority, based on the theory of search incident to arrest, to conduct a search of the … Read more

Search Incident to the Arrest of an Occupant of a Vehicle: Review and Update (Part I)

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This blog post is divided in two parts. This is Part I. Part II will be posted tomorrow. The United States Supreme Court in 2009 issued a ruling in Arizona v. Gant that significantly restricted an officer’s authority, based on the theory of search incident to arrest, to conduct a search of the passenger compartment … Read more

Coming Mbacke to an Old Topic: Vehicle Searches Incident to Arrest

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The Supreme Court of North Carolina recently decided State v. Mbacke, an important case about searches incident to arrest. I mentioned Mbacke briefly in this prior post, which noted that the court of appeals’ decision in the case was impossible to reconcile with the same court’s decision in the similar case of State v. Foy. … Read more