Fourth Amendment Searches Of A Mobile Vehicle: Does not Require A Warrant!

Fourth Amendment Searches of a Mobile Vehicle: Does not require a warrant!

Late last month, the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed a judgment of the Court of Appeals, which reversed the district court in State v. Sanchez-Loredo, 272 P.3d 34, 40 (Kan. 2012).  The defendant was charged for drug crimes after officers first conducted a drug dog sniff of her vehicle and then a search after detaining the vehicle for 75 minutes in order to obtain a search warrant, which resulted in a large quantity of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia being found.  Id. at 36.  The district court granted the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the vehicle search, reasoning that “‘it was practicable to obtain the search warrant prior to the stop and detention of the Defendants.”’  Id. at 37.  The court of appeals reversed the district court’s decision, holding that a ‘“search without a warrant is allowed when probable cause is combined with exigent circumstances; in the case of potential evidence in a car, the mobility of the car provides the exigent circumstances.”’  Id.

On appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court, the issue was whether “the mobility of a vehicle provides exigent circumstances ot search the vehicle regardless of the circumstances.”  Id. at 36.

The United State Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protects citizens against warrantless searches.  However, an exception to the general rule can be found where an officer has probably cause plus exigent circumstances to conduct a search.  The Kansas Supreme Court set Fourth Amendment precedent in State v. Sanchez-Loredo that “the mobility of a vehicle fulfills the requirement of exigent circumstances, so that a warrantless vehicle search is permitted based solely on probable cause.”  Id.  

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