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

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

CA4: The fact vehicle inventory started where defendant reached did not show pretext

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The search of defendant’s car was valid as a search incident before Gant, but it was valid as an inventory. But, the inventory which was not rendered invalid just because the officer went where defendant was reaching before he was arrested. That was the logical place to start and did not show it to be pretextual. United States v. Stitt, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 11662 (4th Cir. June 8, 2010) (unpublished): Stitt makes much of the fact that Officer Hawes testified that he believed when he began the search there was contraband in the center console of the Acura, arguing that this testimony proves that the search was for the purpose of obtaining incriminating evidence. Given the fact that Officer Hawes had observed Stitt appear to close the center console as he was being pulled over, as well as the fact that a search of the Acura incident to the arrest was permissible at the time of the arrest (i...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on June 11, 2010 (boomark / email).