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Keywords

defendantpleamotionguilty plea

defendant

Related Cases

People v. Belton, 55 N.Y.2d 49, 432 N.E.2d 745, 447 N.Y.S.2d 873

Facts

On April 9, 1978, a State trooper stopped a speeding car in Ontario County. Upon smelling marijuana and seeing an envelope associated with its sale on the car floor, the officer ordered the occupants out and conducted a pat-down. After arresting them, the officer searched the vehicle and found the defendant's jacket on the back seat, discovering cocaine inside it. The defendant's motion to suppress the evidence was denied, leading to his guilty plea.

The facts are uncomplicated. On April 9, 1978, a State trooper stopped a car speeding along the State Thruway in Ontario County. Upon smelling marihuana and seeing on the car floor an envelope of a type frequently used in sales of that substance, he ordered defendant and the three other occupants out of the car and then patted them down.

Issue

Did the warrantless search of the defendant's jacket, which was not within his immediate reach at the time of his arrest, violate the Fourth Amendment or the New York State Constitution?

Defendant urges that, although the search in question has been held valid under the Federal Constitution, we should hold that it violated section 12 of article I of the State Constitution, a contention not confronted when the case was previously before us.

Rule

The search of a closed container within the passenger compartment of an automobile is permissible as a search incident to a lawful arrest, even if the container is not within the arrestee's immediate control.

A majority of this court now concludes that the search which followed defendant's lawful arrest was permissible under the State Constitution under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement.

Analysis

The court applied the rule by determining that the search of the defendant's jacket was valid under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement. The officer had probable cause to believe that the vehicle contained evidence related to the crime due to the marijuana smell and the envelope found inside. Thus, the search was justified as it was contemporaneous with a lawful arrest.

In extending Chimel to the facts of this case, in which defendant's jacket was neither on his person nor within his reach (he being outside the vehicle and the jacket being inside with its pocket zippered), the Supreme Court has departed from the rationale in Chimel.

Conclusion

The court held that the warrantless search of the defendant's jacket was permissible and that the evidence obtained was admissible, affirming the order of the Appellate Division.

Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

Who won?

The State prevailed in the case because the court found that the search was valid under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement, justifying the admission of the evidence obtained.

The Appellate Division, 68 A.D.2d 198, 416 N.Y.S.2d 922 affirmed defendant's conviction.

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