Vehicle Search Case Law

Flashcards reviewing key cases related to vehicle searches and the Fourth Amendment.

Coolidge v. New Hampshire (1971)

A search warrant is required to search an automobile if it is parked and not readily accessible by the suspect.

US v. Ragsdale (1972)

A vehicle search is valid, even if the searching officer lacks probable cause, if another officer on the scene has probable cause.

Cady v. Dombrowski (1973)

Warrantless search of a vehicle was lawful because police knew that Chicago PD officers always carry a gun

Cardwell v. Lewis (1974)

Police do not need a warrant, only probable cause, to impound a vehicle in public and take exterior paint scrapings.

US v. Roe (1974)

A suspect does not need to be in his vehicle at the time of arrest in order for the vehicle to be searched incident to arrest.

Texas v. White (1975)

If an officer has probable cause to search a vehicle after stopping it, the officer can move the vehicle to the station to conduct the search.

South Dakota v. Opperman (1976)

A vehicle impounded for parking violations can be unlocked, entered, and inventoried by the police as part of their "caretaking" function without violating the Fourth Amendment.

Pennsylvania v. Mimms (1977)

The driver can be ordered out of a vehicle, without suspicion, on routine traffic stops.

State of New York v. Perlman (1977)

An external test of a radar device is required to prove the device is accurate.

Rakas v. Illinois (1978)

Passengers in a vehicle that they do not own have no standing to suppress evidence found in the vehicle because Fourth Amendment rights are personal.