Are vehicle searches Legal after finding ammunition on passenger?

By: Ray Hill, Professor Emeritus, Santa Rosa Junior College

     One of the rewards of teaching is having contact with past students.  Periodically, I get emails or phone calls about case law.  Most calls are just confirming, “Is what I did OK ”  And, almost 100% of the time, the officer or deputy is right on point with existing case precedent.

     I want to share a recent conversation and question from K-9 Officer Guillermo (Memo) Arguelles of Daly City P.D.  His proactive field work and application of case law led to getting a true “bad guy” off the street.

The facts are straightforward:  

     Officer conducts a traffic stop; the passenger in the rear seat has an outstanding warrant and is arrested; a search of the passenger incident to arrest revealed founds of handgun ammunition on her person; Officer searches the vehicle for the gun that fits the ammunition and finds three stolen handguns in the glove compartment.  Turns out the driver of the vehicle is already a convicted felon.

     Question was – “I believe I’m good, but just want to confirm ”

    The answer is - Absolutely!  In fact, one of the landmark cases that interpreted the “Automobile Exception” is United States v. Ross (1982) 456 U.S. 798 (See “From the Classroom” - “The Auto Exception – An Expanded History of Transportation” - LU Ref. CAB0015, February 14, 2022.  

     In the Ross decision, Washington D.C. officers made a traffic stop for drug investigation.  The officers “plain viewed” a bullet on the front seat.  A further search revealed a handgun in the glove compartment.  A paper bag containing bindles of heroin packaged for sale and a leather pouch containing $3200 cash were found in the trunk.  U.S. ruled officers had a “fair probability” or “substantial chance” to believe there was a ....

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