[gimme1ibertee]

Agreed. But, it makes me wonder: whatever happened to “search incident to arrest”?
Let’s say the guy was pulled over for an amber tag light instead of a clear one. The cop notices some flakes of pot on the front seat. He orders the driver out, finds a joint in the ashtray,and,upon searching further, finds a pound of reefer,a wad of cash,a scale and some baggies.So....this person can’t be charged with possession with intent to distribute? That’s insane!

[jiggyboy]

In your example, the cop has an actual reason to pull the guy over. Nobody here would argue otherwise.

[nathanbedford]

It seems that The Court has been inexorably limiting the scope of the old doctrine of a reasonable search incident to a valid arrest.

Relative to the example you give, one point of view is to observe that the police, having arrested the driver, now take possession of the automobile thus foreclosing any possibility of contamination or loss of evidence and ensuring that they have ample time to secure a warrant.

The other point of view, of course, is to observe that that's not human nature, it is almost a reflex to continue the search under those circumstances. The reply to that, no doubt, is that cops should be trained to delay the search until the warrant is obtained of four an impounded auto.

I'm not too exercised about these situations because proper training should be able to limit freeing criminals to a reasonable minimum. I don't like the expense and the bureaucratic tangle but it is not quite the same as wholesale release of guilty felons.

Perhaps my judgment is clouded by a reflexive despair over the course of the war on drugs, its futility and the terrible damage it is doing to our criminal justice system and our society.

[ImNotLying]

If I may, I would like to respond to your post. If this police officer had noticed an equipment fault such as the one you mentioned or a tail light out, he could legally stop the car and give a warning or ticket for that violation. It during the stop he saw or smelled what he thought to be drugs, then he would have legal reason to search and seize. In this particular case, he had no legal reason in the first place to stop the car. Therefore, his accessing the NCIC data base whereby he found the car showed a different color was not authorized and found so by the court.

[LevinFan]

” Agreed. But, it makes me wonder:
whatever happened to “search incident to
arrest”?
Let’s say the guy was pulled over for an
amber tag light instead of a clear one.
The cop notices some flakes of pot on the
front seat. He orders the driver out, finds
a joint in the ashtray,and,upon searching
further, finds a pound of reefer,a wad of
cash,a scale and some baggies.So....this
person can’t be charged with possession
with intent to distribute? That’s insane!”

The problem is, cops who have a hunch are well known to look for ANYTHING to justify stopping someone. I’ve had it happen to me. Cop thought possible drunk on a Thanksgiving night. Pulled meover claiming 17 over the 50 limit. I knew how fast i was going, and it was 50. I was watching my driving very carefully, as i knew cops were out.
He just needed an excuse to pull me over and see if i was drunk. Since I didn’t give him one, he made it up.