It just got a lot more dangerous and difficult for the police out there on the roadways.  This case began when Rodney was arrested for driving with a suspended license.  After he was handcuffed and locked in the back of a patrol car, officers searched his car and discovered cocaine and a gun.  Rodney moved to suppress arguing after he was handcuffed in the patrol car he posed no threat to the officers, and he was arrested for a traffic offense for which no relevant evidence could be found in the vehicle.  The trial judge allowed the evidence in based on precedent, but the Arizona Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court reversed his conviction.  The Court said searches are permitted only when a person may have access to a weapon or when evidence may be destroyed, and allowing police to search a vehicle after a traffic offense gives police officers unbridled discretion to rummage at will among a person’s private effects.  Justices Breyer and Alito dissented but the majority ruled and when police remove a person from a vehicle and handcuff him, they’re handcuffing themselves as well.

THIS IS NEIL CHAYET LOOKING AT THE LAW™

Arizona v. Rodney Joseph Gant, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 07-542, April 21, 2009, Stevens, J., U.S. Law Week, No. 77, Vol. 41, Pg. 4285, 4-28-09

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