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S.D.Tex.: Arrest and handcuffing for not signalling did not justify SI under Gant

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was stopped for not signaling. Five officers showed up. He was arrested and handcuffed and then one officer searched the vehicle console without any justification. The search incident was invalid under Gant, and it could not be justified by the government’s strained theory of his being involved in a conspiracy, too. United States v. Holland, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5261 (S.D. Tex. January 20, 2011)*: The government’s primary argument, however, is not that the defendants could have accessed the vehicle but that it was reasonable for Oppermann to believe the vehicle contained evidence of the offense of arrest. Oppermann testified, however, that the only offense for which he had probable cause for the traffic stop was the traffic violation — changing lanes without signaling — and that Oppermann did not expect to find any evidence of the traffic violation when he searched the console...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 24, 2011 (boomark / email).