Search and Seizure — Search incident to arrest

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Criminal

Search and Seizure — Search incident to arrest

Where the defendant was arrested for operating a motor vehicle without owner’s consent, the officers could search the vehicle incident to the arrest.

“We reverse. Under Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 351 (2009), a warrantless search of a vehicle incident to the arrest of one of its occupants requires reason to believe that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest. Here, Edwards was arrested for (among other possible offenses) driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent; it was entirely reasonable to believe that evidence of the car’s ownership—its registration or title, for example—would be found in the car. The search was likewise valid under the automobile exception because there was probable cause that evidence of a crime—again, the crime of driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent—would be found in the car.”

Reversed and Remanded.

13-3397 U.S. v. Edwards

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Sykes, J.