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WA: Arrest of passenger on outstanding trespass warrant did not justify search of the car

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Arrest of a passenger for an outstanding trespass warrant did not justify a search incident of the car and there was no reason to believe there was any evidence of a crime or a weapon. State v. Afana, 2010 Wash. LEXIS 539 (July 1, 2010). Lexis overview: Petitioner argued that the warrantless search of his car incident to the arrest of his passenger violated his constitutional rights. The trial court granted the motion to suppress, but the appellate court reversed. On review, the court reversed the appellate court's decision. While the warrant for petitioner's passenger's arrest gave a deputy a valid basis for arresting her, he had no reason to believe that the vehicle contained evidence of the crime of trespass, for which she was arrested, nor did the deputy have reason to believe that she posed a safety risk because she was already in custody at the time of the search...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 03, 2010 (boomark / email).