The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police may not conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle after an arrest unless the suspect poses a safety threat to the officer, the suspect is able to reach for a weapon or try to destroy evidence, or there is reason to believe evidence of a crime will be found. The court’s 5-4 decision will mean a change in police practices in use since the leading case, New York v. Belton, was decided in 1981.
In the dissenting opinion, Justice Alito criticized the majority opinion for creating an unclear standard that the dissent claimed will be confusing for law enforcement officers to follow and endanger their safety. The majority said the earlier Belton case was misinterpreted to mean that officers may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle as part of a lawful arrest of a suspect. The dissent accused the majority of using the misinterpretation explanation as an excuse to change a law it disagreed with.
Source: http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/entry/Supreme-Court-limits-warrantless-vehicle-searches
Tags: Belton, warrantless search
