Explain and define a search. Under what circumstances may police officers search vehicles? What limits, if any, are there on such searches? What determines such limits?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The first significant Supreme Court case involving an automobile was Carroll v. U.S.95 in 1925, in which a divided Court ruled that a warrantless search of an automobile or other vehicle is valid if it is based on a reasonable belief that contraband is present. In 1964, however, in the case of Preston v. U.S.,the limits of warrantless vehicle searches were defined. Preston was arrested for vagrancy and taken to jail. His vehicle was impounded, towed to the police garage, and later searched. Two revolvers were uncovered in the glove compartment, and more incriminating evidence was found in the trunk. Preston, convicted on weapons possession and other charges, eventually appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court held that the warrantless search of Preston's vehicle had occurred while the automobile was in secure custody and had therefore been illegal. Time and circumstances would have permitted acquisition of a warrant to conduct the search, the Court reasoned. Similarly, in 2009, the Court, in the case of Arizona v. Gant, found that vehicle searches"incident to a recent occupant's arrest" cannot be authorized without a warrant if there is "no possibility the arrestee could gain access to the vehicle at the time of the search." Generally speaking, where vehicles are concerned, an
investigatory stop is permissible under the Fourth Amendment if supported by reasonable suspicion, and a warrantless search of a stopped car is valid if it is based on probable
cause. Reasonable suspicion can expand into probable cause when the facts in a given situation so warrant. In 2011, the Court created a good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applicable to a search that was authorized by precedent at the time of the search but which was a type of search that was subsequently ruled unconstitutional.