Robert Phillips
- Ref # CAC00028
- April 13, 2021
Leaning into a Vehicle as a Fourth Amendment Search
CASE LAW
- Searches of Vehicles
- Leaning Into a Vehicle as a Search
- Minimal Intrusiveness Into a Vehicle
- Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
- Inevitable Discovery
RULES
A police officer who, during an otherwise lawful traffic stop, opens the car’s door and leans into it without probable cause or any other particularized justification, violates the Fourth Amendment. Leaning into a vehicle constitutes a search. Any products of that illegal act are subject to possible suppression. Failure to argue possible applicable search and seizure issues waives them.
FACTS
In the early morning hours of May 6, 2018, San Francisco Police Officer Kolby Willmes noticed defendant Malik Ngumezi sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle in a gas station. Officer Willmes also noticed that the vehicle did not ....
