Holsey v. State

Officer's search of defendant's vehicle was not a proper search incident to an arrest, since defendant was not within reaching distance of the passenger compartment and there was no reasonable belief that the vehicle contained evidence relevant to the offense for which he was arrested.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Following a stipulated bench trial, Jabari R. Holsey was convicted of possession of one ounce or less of marijuana.1 He appeals his conviction and the denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized from his automobile, arguing that the search of his automobile was not a proper search incident to arrest and that it was not supported by probable cause. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the denial of Holsey’s motion to suppress and his conviction. The standard of review of a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress evidence is well established. “A trial court’s order on a motion to suppress will not be disturbed if there is any evidence to support it, and the trial court’s decision with regard to questions of fact and credibility must be accepted unless clearly erroneous. We construe all evidence presented in favor of the trial court’s findings and judgment.” Punctuation omitted. Lopez v. State .2 See Tate v. State .3

So construed, the evidence shows that on January 26, 2009, a police officer received a dispatch indicating that two individuals a male and a female had been seen peering into and pulling door handles of vehicles parked in a large shopping center parking lot. As she pulled her patrol vehicle into the shopping center parking lot, the officer saw Holsey and a female companion, both of whom matched the description in the dispatch, standing near Holsey’s parked vehicle. The officer exited her vehicle and asked Holsey to move away from his vehicle and come toward her, which he did. She then asked Holsey what he was doing in the parking lot, and he responded that he had been hired by a local business to place advertisements on cars parked in the lot. While Holsey was being questioned by the female police officer, another officer arrived and joined in the questioning. Believing that Holsey was attempting to break into parked vehicles, the second officer arrested him for loitering. After arresting Holsey, the second officer searched the interior of Holsey’s vehicle and found a small amount of marijuana.

Holsey v. State

Officer's search of defendant's vehicle was not a proper search incident to an arrest, since defendant was not within reaching distance of the passenger compartment and there was no reasonable belief that the vehicle contained evidence relevant to the offense for which he was arrested.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report