Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

IN: Search incident for driving on a suspended license violated state constitution

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Search incident of vehicle for driving on a suspended license that produced drugs was invalid under state constitution because it was not calculated to recover evidence of driving on a suspended license. Baniaga v. State, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 2013 (August 6, 2008): We conclude that Officer Ball's search of Baniaga's vehicle was not reasonable in light of the totality of the circumstances. Although Baniaga was under arrest for driving while suspended, the officer did not fear for his safety and there was no indication that Baniaga had engaged in drug activity. Moreover, Officer Ball admitted that he did not need to search the vehicle to preserve further evidence of Baniaga's licensure offense. Thus, we conclude that the search of Baniaga's vehicle violated the protections provided by Article I, section 11 of the Indiana Constitution...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 14, 2008 (boomark / email).