United States v. Davis

569 F.3d 813 (8th Cir. 2009)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was stopped for speeding. One of the officers smelled the odor of marijuana as he approached the vehicle, and asked D to exit the vehicle so he could conduct a pat-down search. During the pat-down, the Officer felt a lump that he believed to be a plastic bag. D admitted that the lump was a bag of marijuana, D was arrested and placed him in the patrol car. The three passengers riding with D were ordered out of the car so that he could search the vehicle. None of the passengers was secured in handcuffs. A loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun was found in the center console. There were also opened bottles of beer in the vehicle, and the Officer arrested one of the passengers, Gregory Harlin, for being a minor in possession of alcohol. The two remaining passengers left in a taxi because they had been drinking. D filed a motion to suppress the handgun on the ground that the search was impermissible under State v. Gant. Gant required that officers demonstrate a threat to their safety or a need to preserve evidence in order to justify a warrantless search incident to arrest. The district court denied D's motion on the grounds that both the search-incident-to-arrest and automobile exceptions obviated the need for a warrant. After D filed this appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the Arizona Supreme Court's decision in State v. Gant limiting the search-incident-to-arrest exception to situations either threatening officer safety or the preservation of perishable evidence.