New Jersey Traffic and Criminal Law

N.J. Court Further Limits Search of Automobile

In back-to-back appeals, a New Jersey Court further limited police officers' ability to search automobiles in a August 16 published decision.  Known as the "automobile exception", in certain limited instances, police can search motor vehicles for contraband, weapons, illegal drugs and evidence without a warrant.

As a general rule, police officers can only search an automobile, whether operated or parked, when the stop was unexpected, when the police have good reason to believe the car contains evidence of a crime and when there are exigent circumstances.  Usually, exigency exits when there is a risk that evidence will be lost, destroyed or improperly disposed of-- in other words, when the suspects or their accomplices might remove or ditch the evidence.

The August 16 decision involved a motor vehicle that had been taken into custody by impoundment, after one armed robbery suspect had fled of foot, another suspect was arrested on outstanding warrants and yet another was detained for questioning.

The key to understanding this case is to underscore two facts.  That is, the suspects were out of the vehicle, either gone or detained, and the police had secured and impounded the suspect vehicle.  So, no exigency existed.

The Appellate Division ruled that the police clearly had the time and the opportunity to get a warrant, whether by telephonic or traditional means.

 

 

Court upholds right of school officials to search student vehicles

       For high school students, beware of what you carry in your car once you roll onto school grounds.  In a case decided yesterday, the Appellate Division upheld the right of teachers and administrators to search a student's vehicle based on "reasonable suspicion." 

       In State v. Best, the court concluded that "the privacy interests of students are outweighed by the substantial interest of teachers and administrators in maintaining a drug-free environment in the classroom and on school grounds".

       Usually, the search of an automobile must be accompanied by probable cause.  My favorite definition of probable cause is found in "Ballentine's Law Dictionary: Legal Assistant Edition and is defined as: "a reasonable amount of suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficiently strong to justify a prudent and cautious person's belief that certain facts are probably true".

       "Reasonable suspicion", on the other hand, is more than just a hunch.  It is a belief supported by articulated facts, but does not quite rise to the level of "probable cause". 

       In Best, the student appeared to the school nurse to be "high" from some type of controlled dangerous substance.  That combined with a report from another student led to a search of his locker and vehicle.  Ultimately, the student was charged with possession of CDS and distribution.