MINOR ACTIONS LEAD TO MAJOR ARRESTS

Often small errors end up in people being arrested and convicted of major crimes. I have seen this many times over the years. But the point was brought home by two cases listed on FourthAmendment.com.

First a little bit about the Fourth Amendment. It states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

But the courts, particularly under Chief Justices, Burger, Reinquist, and Roberts have found many “reasonable” exception to the search warrant rule. The two cases that I will discuss today come under the “search pursuant to a legal arrest” and “consent” exceptions.

In a Washington state case, State v. Kirwin a passenger in a car driven by Kirwin at 2:00 a.m. in Olympia threw a beer can out the car window. A police officer saw the can being thrown out the window and arrested the passenger for littering. After the passenger was in the police car the officer search that area of the car that had been in the reach of the passenger. Finding methamphetamine, the officer arrested Kirwin for possession of methamphetamine and he was convicted.

A Georgia case also found in FourthAmendment.com is based upon the search pursuant to a legal arrest and consent exceptions to the search warrant rule. In Sapp v. State In Sapp an informant gave a detailed description of the vehicle and the route Sapp was going to take to deliver methamphetamine. Police officers set up surveillance and followed him. As he followed the expected route he crossed the road’s center line twice. The police stopped him for the traffic violations. He admitted that there was an illegal substance in the truck and he consented to the officers searching the vehicle. Prior to the search, an officer saw a drug pipe on the front seat. Based upon his consent to the search and upon the officer’s seeing the pipe on the front seat the court found the search to be legal on both consent and pursuant to a legal arrest grounds.

In the Washington case the search was based on a passenger’s throwing a beer can out the window and in the Georgia case on a driver crossing the center line. Both cases resulted in methamphetamine convictions.