Probation Fourth Waiver Searches & Good Faith Belief in the Existence of a Fourth Waiver

• Probation Fourth Waiver Searches and the Common Authority Theory
• Vehicle Searches and a Passenger’s Fourth Waiver
• Good Faith and Fourth Waiver Searches When the Waiver is Later Invalidated

(1) Upon finding that a passenger in a motor vehicle is on searchable probation, an officer may search those areas of the car's passenger compartment where the officer reasonably expects that the probationer could have stowed or discarded items after noticing police activity.  The fact that the probationer had just left the car when contacted is irrelevant, at least so long as she is still so close to the car that she continues to have access to it.  (2) An officer’s good faith belief that a suspect is subject to a Fourth waiver justifies a search even though an appellate court later determines that the Fourth waiver is invalid.

In late 2012, defendant Anthony Paul Maxwell was shacking up with a fellow-doper by the name of Christy Scarbrough.  ....