Posted on 12/15/2003 2:17:27 PM PST by ask
Court Allows Arrests of All in Drug Stops
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court issued a traffic warning Monday: Beware of whom you ride with. If drugs are found in a vehicle, all occupants can be arrested, the justices said in a unanimous decision.
It was a victory for Maryland and 20 other states that argued police frequently find drugs in traffic stops but no one in the vehicle claims them. The court gave officers the go-ahead to arrest everyone.
In a small space like a car, an officer could reasonably infer "a common enterprise" among a driver and passengers, the justices ruled.
The case stemmed from an incident in 1999, when police in the Baltimore suburbs pulled over a speeding car. A search revealed a roll of cash in the glove compartment and cocaine in an armrest in the back seat.
The driver and the two passengers denied having anything to do with the contraband, so all three men were arrested.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for the court, said police had probable cause to suspect that the drugs belonged to any of the three, or all of them.
Lisa Kemler, a criminal defense attorney from Alexandria, Va., said the court seems to be saying: "know who your company is."
"How many times have you gotten a ride with a friend? Are you going to peer around in their glove compartment?" asked Kemler, who fears the ruling will lead to a police dragnet. "You could find probable cause to arrest everybody."
Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a pro-law enforcement group, said police can't be expected to sort out ownership of drugs or guns in the middle of a traffic stop.
"You certainly wouldn't let three people with Uzis in their car leave because no one would admit the uzis were theirs," he said.
Maryland's highest court had thrown out the conviction of a passenger in the car, Joseph Jermaine Pringle, on grounds that his arrest violated the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches or seizures. The Supreme Court reversed that decision.
"Pringle's attempt to characterize this case as a guilt-by-associaton case is unavailing," Rehnquist wrote in the brief decision.
Pringle told police later that the drugs were his and that he had planned to swap them for sex or money at a party. His 10-year prison sentence will be reinstated.
The American Civil Liberties Union and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed a brief supporting Pringle. Their lawyer said the ruling will sweep innocent passengers into criminal cases.
"There's nothing in this opinion to prevent a police officer from arresting a graduate student who is offered a ride home late at night from a party that she has attended with some fellow students," said Tracey Maclin, a Boston University law professor.
The court's rationale could be used in other police search cases, involving homes, Maclin said.
The ruling dealt with the discovery of drugs and cash, but it could apply to other contraband as well.
Supporting Maryland in the case were the Bush administration, along with Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Puerto Rico.
The case is Maryland v. Pringle, 02-809.
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On the Net:
Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
In Mass, yes: same as it ever has been, as far back as I was concerned with it....1986 on.
Ergo, the Supreme Court case...
:)
Yes, the court just ruled the presence of drugs is PC for the arrest of everybody.
Cop's version:
1. Cop stops car for speeding.As long as them low lives are being railroaded with these laws, us don't care. [/s]2. Cop asks driver for papers.
3. Driver retrieves papers from glove compartment.
4. Cop notices cash inside glove compartment.
5. Cop runs papers through police computer.
6. Driver has no warrants.
7. [Cop frustrated]
8. Cop asks permission to search car.
9. Driver grants permission to cop [under duress, of course.]
10. Cop finds drugs.
11. At first, no one admitted putting the drugs in the arm rest. Everybody arrested.
12. Eventually, the passenger fesses up to the the drugs being his.
13. Passenger convicted.
No warrant is needed to search immediately accessable areas of a vehicle. During any detention a Terry search may be performed for the officier's safety without a warrant.
I don't say this do defend the court's bad decision, just more information as to why celebs don't get busted. There have been cases where a celebrity's flunky may have even taken a murder rap.
Well, out of the 1 in 12 Americans convicted of a felony, barely half are imprisoned. Things that make you go, hmmmmmnnn.
Some states consider a vehicle an extension of one's abode. Most don't.
"B**** set me up!!!"
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