Title: State v. Stevenson
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 104115
State: Kansas
Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court
Date: March 28, 2014

1 
 
 
 
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS 
 
No. 104,115 
 
STATE OF KANSAS, 
Appellee, 
 
v. 
 
ROBERT G. STEVENSON, 
Appellant. 
 
 
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 
 
1. 
 
A warrantless search by a police officer is per se unreasonable under the Fourth 
Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 15 of the Kansas Constitution 
Bill of Rights, unless the State can establish that the circumstances of the search fit within 
one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement. 
 
2. 
 
If a vehicle is readily mobile and probable cause exists to believe that the vehicle 
contains contraband or evidence of a crime, our federal and state constitutions permit the 
police to search the vehicle without a warrant, but the State bears the burden of proving 
the lawfulness of any warrantless vehicle search. 
 
3. 
 
Probable cause to search a vehicle can be established if the totality of the 
circumstances indicates that there is a fair probability that the vehicle contains contraband 
or evidence of a crime. 
 
2 
 
 
 
4. 
 
The gravamen of the traffic offense proscribed by K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 8-1599 is 
transporting an open container of alcohol on a highway or street when the container is not 
stored in a statutorily permissible location within the transporting vehicle. Operating a 
vehicle in which alcohol has previously spilled does not, without more, establish a 
violation of K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 8-1599. 
 
5. 
 
To have probable cause to search a vehicle for an open container of alcohol as part 
of an investigation for a violation of K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 8-1599, the investigating officer 
must possess information that creates a fair probability that the vehicle contains an open 
container that has been unlawfully transported.   
 
Review of the judgment of the Court of Appeals in 46 Kan. App. 2d 474, 262 P.3d 689 (2011). 
Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; JAMES R. FLEETWOOD and JOSEPH BRIBIESCA, judges. Opinion 
filed March 28, 2014. Judgment of the Court of Appeals affirming the district court is reversed. Judgment 
of the district court is reversed. 
 
Rick Kittel, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause and was on the brief for 
appellant.  
 
Lesley A. Isherwood, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Nola Tedesco Foulston, 
district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were with her on the brief for appellee. 
 
The opinion of the court was delivered by 
 
JOHNSON, J.:  After stopping Robert Stevenson's sport utility vehicle based upon a 
turn signal violation, law enforcement officers searched the vehicle because they 
observed a very strong odor of alcohol emanating from inside the vehicle after Stevenson, 
3 
 
 
 
the lone occupant, had exited. The search led to the discovery of methamphetamine and 
the subsequent prosecution of Stevenson for possessing that drug, in violation of K.S.A. 
2008 Supp. 65-4160. Stevenson sought to suppress the fruits of the warrantless search, 
but the district court held that the odor of alcohol inside the vehicle was sufficient to 
establish probable cause to search the vehicle for an open container of alcohol. In a split 
decision, a panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed that holding. State v. Stevenson, 46 
Kan. App. 2d 474, 262 P.3d 689 (2011) (Buser, J., dissenting). This court accepted 
review of the Court of Appeals' decision; our jurisdiction is pursuant to K.S.A. 20-
3018(b) and K.S.A. 22-3602(e). Based upon the totality of circumstances in this 
particular case, we determine that the search was unlawful.  
 
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL OVERVIEW 
 
On December 19, 2008, at approximately 4 a.m., Detective Jon Gill and Deputy 
Justin Crafton were watching a house that the officers suspected of drug activity. They 
had previously stopped vehicles leaving the house and discovered criminal activity. 
When Stevenson's vehicle left the house, the officers followed it until they observed the 
vehicle's turn signal engage as it approached a stop sign at the intersection of 14th and 
Broadway. Detective Gill opined that the turn signal was initiated approximately 15 feet 
from the intersection, and Deputy Crafton estimated that the distance was 30 feet. But 
this court has held that a driver is absolutely liable if he or she fails to continuously signal 
a turn for 100 feet prior to the turn. State v. Greever, 286 Kan. 124, Syl. ¶¶ 8, 9, 184 P.3d 
788 (2008). The officers testified that they relied on the 100 feet rule to justify stopping 
Stevenson's vehicle after targeting it to investigate for drug activity. See 286 Kan. at 142 
(Johnson, J., dissenting) (predicting absolute liability 100 feet turn signal rule would be 
extensively used to legalize profiling selected targets for investigatory detentions).  
  
4 
 
 
 
Deputy Crafton approached the vehicle's driver side, while Detective Gill 
approached the passenger side. Stevenson was the only occupant of the vehicle. The area 
of the stop was "fairly lit up" by streetlights. Deputy Crafton noticed a very strong odor 
of alcohol coming from the open driver's side window and directed Stevenson to exit and 
proceed to the rear of his vehicle. While the deputy conducted field sobriety tests on 
Stevenson outside his vehicle, Detective Gill proceeded to the driver's side and "stuck 
[his] head in the vehicle." Either before or while he was inside the vehicle, the detective 
also noticed a very strong odor of alcohol, "as if possibly an alcohol container had spilled 
inside the vehicle." The detective subsequently reiterated that, based upon his law 
enforcement experience, "[i]t smelled to [him] as if an alcohol container had spilled 
inside the vehicle. It was a very strong, very strong odor."  
 
The officers determined that Stevenson was not under the influence of alcohol and 
they permitted him to re-enter his vehicle. A records check indicated that Stevenson's 
driver's license was valid and clean and that he had no outstanding wants or warrants. 
Nevertheless, the officers continued the detention because they believed they had 
probable cause to search Stevenson's vehicle for an open container of alcohol based 
solely on the odor of alcohol. Specifically, Deputy Crafton testified that he believed that 
the circumstance was akin to the probable cause definitively created by the odor of 
marijuana. The officers confirmed at the suppression hearing that they had not observed 
anything in plain sight that would justify the search and that they had not asked 
Stevenson for his consent to search his vehicle.  
 
Crafton apparently first looked for an open container inside of the center console 
of the front seat, where he found two glass pipes containing a crystal-like residue that 
Crafton suspected was methamphetamine. Then, a digital scale was recovered from the 
map pouch on the back of the passenger seat. Finally, the deputy noticed a large bottle of 
red wine on top of the vehicle's backseat. Crafton testified that the lid was on the half-
5 
 
 
 
empty bottle but that he could tell that it had been previously opened. He noticed a wet, 
red liquid on the floorboard right behind the driver's seat that he thought had likely 
spilled from the wine bottle, albeit the bottle was recovered from the middle of the 
backseat.  
 
Based on the drug paraphernalia found inside the vehicle, Detective Gill arrested 
Stevenson and performed a search incident to arrest. That search produced 
methamphetamine from Stevenson's wallet, for which the State charged Stevenson with 
possession. Stevenson sought to suppress the methamphetamine as the fruit of an 
unlawful vehicle search.  
 
First, the district court upheld the initial seizure, finding that Stevenson's failure to 
signal his intended turn for the requisite 100 feet authorized the officers to effect a traffic 
stop. The district court then found that both officers smelled a strong odor of alcohol 
emanating from the interior of Stevenson's vehicle and that the strong odor remained after 
Stevenson exited the vehicle. The court also noted that the officers had testified that they 
"believed that perhaps there was alcohol that had been spilled in the interior of the 
vehicle." Relying heavily upon a Court of Appeals decision, State v. Bickerstaff, 26 Kan. 
App. 2d 423, 988 P.2d 285, rev. denied 268 Kan. 849 (1999), the district court ultimately 
opined that the strong smell of alcohol was enough, standing alone, to give the officers 
probable cause to search for an open container.   
 
After his motion to suppress was denied, Stevenson waived his right to a jury trial 
and tried the matter to the bench upon stipulated facts, but preserving the suppression 
issues for appeal. After finding Stevenson guilty, the trial court sentenced him to 12 
months' probation with an underlying prison term of 11 months.  
 
6 
 
 
 
Stevenson appealed his conviction, and a split panel of the Court of Appeals 
affirmed the district court's denial of Stevenson's motion to suppress. State v. Stevenson, 
46 Kan. App. 2d 474, 262 P.3d 689 (2011) (Buser, J., dissenting). The majority held that 
"the very strong odor of alcohol emanating from inside the vehicle, where the sole 
occupant of the vehicle had been excluded as the source of the odor, constituted probable 
cause to search the vehicle for open containers of alcohol." 46 Kan. App. 2d at 480. The 
dissent reasoned that, because alcohol was a legal substance, the very strong odor of 
alcohol "without incriminating facts or circumstances, did not justify the warrantless 
search of the automobile to search for open containers of alcohol." 46 Kan. App. 2d at 
481 (Buser, J., dissenting).  
 
 
Stevenson sought, and we granted, review of the Court of Appeals holding that the 
officers had probable cause to search Stevenson's vehicle.  
 
PROBABLE CAUSE TO SEARCH A VEHICLE FOR OPEN CONTAINERS OF ALCOHOL 
 
To clarify, the question presented to us for review does not include any issue 
regarding the initial seizure of Stevenson's vehicle for the traffic infraction. Cf. State v. 
Sanchez-Loredo, 294 Kan. 50, 53-54, 272 P.3d 34 (2012) (clarifying that court would not 
address issues not cross-appealed by defendant). Likewise, there is no question raised as 
to whether the search was actually conducted in such a manner that it was more likely to 
uncover drugs than an open alcohol container. We are only concerned with whether the 
evidence the officers discovered during the traffic stop—a very strong odor of alcohol 
emanating from the unoccupied vehicle—gave them probable cause to search the seized 
vehicle for evidence of another crime—transporting an open container of alcohol.  
  
7 
 
 
 
Standard of Review 
 
 
"The standard of review for a district court's ruling on a suppression motion is 
bifurcated, with factual findings reviewed for substantial competent evidence and the 
legal conclusions reviewed with a de novo standard. State v. Woolverton, 284 Kan. 59, 
70, 159 P.3d 985 (2007). If the material facts are not disputed, 'the question of whether to 
suppress evidence becomes a question of law subject to unlimited review.' State v. 
Anderson, 259 Kan. 16, 18, 910 P.2d 180 (1996)." State v. Brittingham, 296 Kan. 597, 
601, 294 P.3d 263 (2013).  
 
"The facts in this case are not in dispute." Stevenson, 46 Kan. App. 2d at 474. 
Therefore, our review is unlimited. 
 
Analysis 
 
 
Both our federal and state constitutions protect against unreasonable searches and 
seizures. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "[t]he 
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against 
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." Section 15 of the Kansas 
Constitution Bill of Rights specifically protects Kansans from unwarranted government 
intrusion:  "The right of the people to be secure in their persons and property against 
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall be inviolate."  
 
Where a search has been conducted without first obtaining a warrant from a 
detached magistrate, our starting point is that the "warrantless search by a police officer is 
per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment unless the State can fit the search 
within one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement." Sanchez-Loredo, 
294 Kan. at 55. Here, the State relied upon the automobile exception, which is a subclass 
of the probable-cause-plus-exigent-circumstances exception, whereby the mobility of the 
8 
 
 
 
vehicle provides the exigent circumstances. If a vehicle is readily mobile and probable 
cause exists to believe the vehicle contains contraband or evidence of a crime, the Fourth 
Amendment does not require a warrant for police to search the vehicle. 294 Kan. 50, 
Syl. ¶ 4. But the State bears the burden of proving the lawfulness of the warrantless 
vehicle search. State v. Ibarra, 282 Kan. 530, 533, 147 P.3d 842 (2006).  
 
The State's theory was that the strong odor of alcohol coming from within the 
vehicle provided probable cause to believe that the vehicle contained an open container 
of alcohol, which the officers apparently believed would be evidence of a crime. The 
district court recognized that this court has not established a bright-line rule for the odor 
of alcohol as it previously did for the odor of marijuana. In State v. MacDonald, 253 Kan. 
320, 324-25, 856 P.2d 116 (1993), upon which Deputy Crafton said he relied, this court 
held that an officer's detection of the odor of burned marijuana, standing alone, 
constituted probable cause to search a vehicle. The rationale for that definitive rule was 
that, in this state at that time, the smell of marijuana was always evidence of illegal 
activity. 
 
But the district court was also aware of this court's decision in Ibarra, which sits at 
the other end of the probable cause spectrum. Ibarra held that the smell of ether 
emanating from a vehicle was insufficient to provide probable cause to search the 
vehicle, even where the driver had failed to provide the detaining law enforcement officer 
with a legitimate explanation for possessing a product that could be used in the illegal 
production of methamphetamine. 282 Kan. 530, Syl. ¶ 3. Ibarra opined that "[t]he strong 
odor of ether emanating from a house or a vehicle is as consistent with lawful activity as 
it is with criminal activity," and, accordingly, "the smell of ether alone is justification for 
further investigation but not for a search." 282 Kan. at 543.  
 
9 
 
 
 
The Ibarra majority noted that the odor of alcohol was at issue in Bickerstaff and 
described the holding of that case as follows:   
 
"The Court of Appeals concluded that the odor of alcohol from the person and her car 
and the breath test showing she had alcohol in her system coupled with her denial of 
drinking provided the officer with probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of the 
vehicle for an open container. 26 Kan. App. 2d at 424." Ibarra, 282 Kan. at 538. 
 
As the dissent in this case noted, even the lone dissenter in Ibarra agreed that "'[t]here is 
no "standing alone" statement in Bickerstaff. The result clearly was not limited to the 
smell of alcohol.'" Stevenson, 46 Kan. App. 2d at 482 (Buser, J., dissenting) (quoting 
Ibarra, 282 Kan. at 558 [Larson, J., dissenting]). Nevertheless, the district court in this 
case interpreted Bickerstaff as permitting a warrantless search based solely upon the smell 
of alcohol, suggesting that any discussion of the other circumstances would be merely 
dicta. 
 
But the Court of Appeals majority acknowledged that Bickerstaff had not 
established a bright-line rule that the odor of alcohol in a vehicle, standing alone, was 
sufficient to establish probable cause to search for an open container. Rather, Bickerstaff's 
determination of probable cause was based on the "cumulative facts" that the alcohol 
odor was coming from both the car and the defendant and that the defendant had denied 
consuming any alcohol when a breath test indicated otherwise. Stevenson, 46 Kan. App. 
2d at 477. Moreover, the Court of Appeals majority noted that Ibarra had stressed that it 
was the combination of facts in Bickerstaff that had established the probable cause to 
search in that case. Stevenson, 46 Kan. App. 2d at 477-78. The majority then completed 
its discussion of Kansas cases with State v. Carson, No. 101,242, 2009 WL 1591933 
(Kan. App. 2009) (unpublished opinion), where the panel found an officer lacked 
probable cause to search a vehicle despite having smelled the odor of alcohol. Carson 
10 
 
 
 
distinguished Bickerstaff by pointing out that the officer in Carson could not determine 
whether there was any alcohol odor coming from the vehicle, independent of the 
effluvium arising from the defendant; that Carson had admitted to having a couple of 
drinks, whereas Bickerstaff denied drinking anything; and that the officer in Carson 
testified that he had no reason to suspect any illegal activity once Carson passed the field 
sobriety tests. Stevenson, 46 Kan. App. 2d at 478. 
 
Given that this court has not had an opportunity to directly address facts similar to 
those presented in this case, the Court of Appeals majority looked to the Idaho Court of 
Appeals for guidance, finding the decision in State v. Wigginton, 142 Idaho 180, 125 P.3d 
536 (Ct. App. 2005), rev. denied December 23, 2005, to be persuasive. There, a police 
officer initiated a traffic stop on suspicion that Wigginton was driving under the influence 
of alcohol because he had crossed the centerline three times and applied his brakes for no 
apparent reason. As Wigginton pulled his vehicle over to the shoulder, the vehicle hit a 
rock, which flattened a tire. When the officer contacted Wigginton, he noted that 
Wigginton's eyes were bloodshot and there was an overwhelming odor of alcohol coming 
from inside the vehicle. The passenger explained that someone had previously spilled a 
beer on the vehicle's floorboard and that the odor increased when the heater was running. 
Both Wigginton and his passenger denied that they had been drinking alcohol. Wigginton 
satisfactorily performed all field sobriety tests, leading the conducting officer to believe 
Wigginton was not impaired. Nevertheless, the officers informed Wigginton that they 
were proceeding to search his vehicle because they believed that they had probable cause 
to look for an open container of alcohol based on the overwhelming odor of alcohol 
coming from the vehicle. Additionally, the officers had a drug dog sniff around the 
vehicle prior to the search. The opinion does not indicate whether any open container of 
alcohol was found in the vehicle, but the officers recovered items used to manufacture 
methamphetamine, leading to a drug prosecution in which Wigginton challenged the 
lawfulness of the vehicle search. 
11 
 
 
 
 
The Idaho Court of Appeals concluded that the facts known to the officers 
provided probable cause to search for evidence of an open container violation, relying on 
the overwhelming odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle, the fact that both vehicle 
occupants denied drinking, and the fact that the field sobriety tests confirmed that 
Wigginton had not been drinking. 142 Idaho at 183. The court reasoned that if the vehicle 
occupants had not been drinking, the odor must have been coming from something within 
the vehicle. The court found that although the passenger's explanation of a spilled beer 
was plausible, "the trooper was not obligated to accept her assertion that the spill was not 
a recent occurrence." 142 Idaho at 183. The court noted that "the fact that Wigginton had 
just struck a rock when pulling over on the officer's signal suggested a possibility that 
alcohol could have spilled from a container during an abrupt stop." 142 Idaho at 183. In 
reaching its conclusion that the stop was supported by probable cause, the Idaho Court of 
Appeals stated:  
 
 
"We do not hold that an odor of alcohol that may be coming from occupants 
rather than from something else within the vehicle alone is sufficient to justify a search 
under the automobile exception. Here, however, the odor from the vehicle and additional 
information pointed to the likelihood of an open container in the vehicle. Cumulatively, 
these facts gave probable cause for a search." (Emphasis added.) 142 Idaho at 183.  
 
The Court of Appeals majority was persuaded by Wigginton to find that the 
officers here had sufficient information to establish the requisite probable cause to search 
Stevenson's vehicle for an open container, reasoning as follows:  
 
 
"Once Stevenson was removed from the car and it was determined that he was 
not intoxicated, the clear source of the 'very strong' odor of alcohol was the interior of the 
car. In fact, it was so strong the officers immediately associated the odor with an open 
container that had spilled in the vehicle, certainly a fair inference. If the alcohol was 
12 
 
 
 
being transported legally in an unopened container, it would not have a detectable odor. It 
was reasonable for the officers to act on their suspicions, rather than ignore evidence 
which signals a crime. See State v. MacDonald, 253 Kan. 320, 325, 856 P.2d 116 (1993) 
(odor of burning marijuana is sufficient by itself to establish probable cause to search a 
vehicle); State v. Goff, 44 Kan. App. 2d 536, 540, 239 P.3d 467 (2010), [rev. denied 292 
Kan. 967 (2011)] (odor of raw marijuana is sufficient by itself to establish probable cause 
to search a vehicle). 
 
 
"Under the totality of the circumstances, we find that under the facts of this case, 
the very strong odor of alcohol emanating from inside the vehicle, when the sole 
occupant of the vehicle had been excluded as the source of the odor, constituted probable 
cause to search the vehicle for open containers of alcohol." 46 Kan. App. 2d at 480.  
 
The Court of Appeals dissent challenged the majority's legal reasoning, pointing 
out that "no Kansas appellate court previously has held that the odor of a legal substance 
may provide the sole basis to justify a warrantless search of an automobile based upon 
probable cause to believe the vehicle contained contraband or evidence of a crime." 
(Emphasis added.) 46 Kan. App. 2d at 481 (Buser, J., dissenting). Because alcohol, like 
ether, is legal to possess in this State, the dissent would have applied Ibarra to require 
more than the strong odor of alcohol emanating from a vehicle to justify a warrantless 
search. 46 Kan. App. 2d at 481 (Buser, J., dissenting). Moreover, the dissent suggested 
that the discovery of an open container of alcohol inside the vehicle would not 
necessarily have established a crime, given that it is possible to legally transport an open 
container of alcohol, e.g., K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 8-1599 provides an exception allowing the 
transportation of an open container behind the last upright seat in a vehicle without a 
trunk. 46 Kan. App. 2d at 485 (Buser, J., dissenting). 
 
The dissent also challenged the majority's assertion that Wigginton was factually 
similar to this case. Wigginton was stopped on suspicion that he was driving under the 
influence and, after the stop, the officer noted the corroborating fact that Wigginton's 
13 
 
 
 
eyes were bloodshot. In stark contrast, Detective Gill and Deputy Crafton stopped 
Stevenson for failing to activate his turn signal soon enough, as a pretext to investigate 
whether he was involved in the drug activity they suspected at the house they had staked 
out. Wigginton and his passenger denied drinking anything and were given the 
opportunity to explain the overwhelming odor of alcohol inside the vehicle. Here, the 
State presented absolutely no evidence to even suggest that Stevenson was asked about 
the origin of the alcoholic odor in his vehicle or whether he was asked if he had recently 
consumed alcohol. Indeed, the suppression hearing transcript reveals that the officers 
could not even say whether an odor of alcohol could be detected on Stevenson's person 
when he was outside of the vehicle. Further, the dissent noted that the Wigginton court 
was influenced by the inference that an open container of alcohol could have just spilled 
when Wigginton struck the rock that flattened his tire during the traffic stop. In contrast, 
the record here contains no evidence "leading to the inference that an open container had 
just spilled or was even inside Stevenson's vehicle." 46 Kan. App. 2d at 484 (Buser, J., 
dissenting). The dissent also challenged the logic of characterizing Stevenson's sobriety 
as a factor that contributed to the totality of the circumstances that supported probable 
cause to search for an open container, because, in Bickerstaff, it was the driver's 
intoxication that was the important factor leading to justifying the search. Stevenson, 46 
Kan. App. 2d at 486-87. In other words, the dissent opined that the State failed to 
establish any circumstances, other than odor, from which the officers could reasonably 
infer that Stevenson was illegally transporting an open container of alcohol.  
 
Moreover, the dissent opined that, akin to what this court said in Ibarra, the odor 
of alcohol only justified the "officers' brief extension of the traffic stop to investigate 
whether Stevenson was in violation of K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 8-1599 and K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 
8-1567 (driving under the influence of alcohol)." Stevenson, 46 Kan. App. 2d at 484-85. 
(Buser, J., dissenting). Yet, the officers apparently failed to conduct even a cursory 
14 
 
 
 
investigation that surely would have disclosed the large bottle of wine lying in plain view 
on the backseat of the vehicle. 46 Kan. App. 2d at 486 (Buser, J., dissenting).  
 
The dissent's discussion of extending the traffic stop to investigate the specific 
crime of violating K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 8-1599 touches on a couple of points. First, the 
officers relied on a traffic infraction to effect their pretextual stop. See Whren v. United 
States, 517 U.S. 806, 812-13, 116 S. Ct. 1769, 135 L. Ed. 2d 89 (1996) (driver's violation 
of traffic code gives officers probable cause to stop vehicle even if pretext to investigate 
for drugs). Accordingly, the State had to show why the officers did not simply issue 
Stevenson a ticket for failing to properly signal a turn and let him go on his way. See 
State v. Spagnola, 295 Kan. 1098, 1104, 289 P.3d 68 (2012) ("The detaining of a driver 
justified solely for the purpose of issuing a ticket to the driver can become unlawful if it 
is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete that lawful objective."). In 
order to extend the length of a traffic stop for questioning beyond the initial purpose of 
the traffic stop, the officers must have possessed "an objectively reasonable and 
articulable suspicion that illegal activity has occurred" or must have obtained the driver's 
consent to further questioning. 295 Kan. at 1105. Here, the State does not rely on consent, 
so the officers had to establish that they reasonably suspected illegal activity. After 
Stevenson passed the field sobriety tests, the only illegal activity that the officers could 
have suspected was that Stevenson had transported an open container of alcohol between 
the "drug house" and the intersection where he was stopped. As will be discussed below, 
that means more than just having alcohol in the car that is susceptible to being smelled 
from the outside. 
 
Then, the officers' acquisition of reasonable suspicion only entitled them to extend 
the detention in order to investigate further. In order to conduct a full-fledged search of 
the automobile, the quality and quantity of information acquired by the officers had to 
move them up the evidentiary continuum to the point where they had probable cause to 
15 
 
 
 
believe they would find evidence of a crime in the vehicle. We have stated it this way:  
"'"Probable cause" to search a vehicle can be established if the totality of the 
circumstances indicates there is a "fair probability" that the vehicle contains contraband 
or evidence [of a crime].'" State v. Jefferson, 297 Kan. 1151, 1159, 310 P.3d 331 (2013) 
(quoting Sanchez-Loredo, 294 Kan. at 55). "Contraband" is defined as "[g]oods that are 
unlawful to import, export, or possess." Black's Law Dictionary 341 (8th ed. 2004). 
Accordingly, it would not be enough for the officers to believe that there was a fair 
probability they would find alcohol in Stevenson's vehicle. Rather, they had to reasonably 
believe that Stevenson had unlawfully transported any alcohol that might be found in the 
vehicle.  
 
The Court of Appeals majority mentions the totality of circumstances and the facts 
of this case but then appears to formulate a modified bright-line rule:  "the very strong 
odor of alcohol emanating from inside the vehicle, when the sole occupant of the vehicle 
had been excluded as the source of the odor, constituted probable cause to search the 
vehicle for open containers of alcohol." 46 Kan. App. 2d at 480. We disagree with that 
statement, both as a rule of law and as applicable under the totality of circumstances in 
this particular case. 
 
To determine whether there was a fair probability that evidence of the crime of 
transporting an open container would be found in Stevenson's vehicle, we start by 
looking at the evidence required to prove the crime. The relevant portions of the only 
statute that Stevenson is alleged to have violated are as follows:  
 
 
"(b) No person shall transport in any vehicle upon a highway or street any 
alcoholic beverage unless such beverage is: 
 
16 
 
 
 
 
(1) In the original unopened package or container, the seal of which has not been 
broken and from which the original cap, cork or other means of closure has not been 
removed; 
 
 
(2)(A) in the locked rear trunk or rear compartment, or any locked outside 
compartment which is not accessible to any person in the vehicle while it is in motion; or 
 
 
(B) if a motor vehicle is not equipped with a trunk, behind the last upright seat or 
in an area not normally occupied by the driver or a passenger; or 
 
 
(3) in the exclusive possession of a passenger in a vehicle which is a recreational 
vehicle, as defined by K.S.A. 75-1212, and amendments thereto, or a bus, as defined by 
K.S.A. 8-1406, and amendments thereto, who is not in the driving compartment of such 
vehicle or who is in a portion of such vehicle from which the driver is not directly 
accessible." K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 8-1599(b). 
 
One first observes that the statute does not prohibit the possession of an open 
container in a vehicle. The gravamen of the offense is transporting the alcohol on a 
highway or street. Moreover, there are a number of exceptions to the prohibition on 
transporting alcohol. For instance, the officers identified Stevenson's vehicle as a 2001 
Chevrolet Blazer, which presumably does not have a trunk, which, in turn, would have 
allowed Stevenson to legally transport the unsealed wine bottle "behind the last upright 
seat or in an area not normally occupied by the driver or a passenger." K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 
8-1599(b)(2)(B). In that event, the wine bottle would not have been contraband, there 
would have been no crime upon which to gather evidence, and the Court of Appeals' rule 
would have permitted a government intrusion to search for evidence of a lawful activity.  
 
Perhaps most importantly, both officers opined that the very strong smell 
suggested to them that alcohol had been spilled inside the vehicle. The district court 
noted that testimony and the Court of Appeals majority labeled it "a fair inference." 
17 
 
 
 
Stevenson, 46 Kan. App. 2d at 480. Yet, the State did not argue in this case that 
Stevenson's transportation of the alcohol that had spilled on the floorboard was a 
violation of K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 8-1599(b); the prosecutor confirmed at oral argument that 
the State was not contending that the spilled alcohol was illegal. See K.S.A. 2008 Supp. 
41-102 (defining "alcoholic liquor" as substances "containing alcohol, spirits, wine or 
beer and capable of being consumed as a beverage by a human being"). If Stevenson had 
discarded the leaking wine bottle before being stopped or if the leaking wine bottle had 
been in a permissible location, the "very strong odor" of alcohol would have remained, 
notwithstanding there being no probability of finding contraband or evidence of a crime 
within the vehicle.  
  
In Wigginton, the Idaho Court of Appeals opined that "[p]robable cause for a 
search is a flexible common-sense standard—a practical, nontechnical probability that 
incriminating evidence is present is all that is required." 142 Idaho at 182. Utilizing 
Kansas common sense, one would intuit that it would be more probable that the very 
strong odor of alcohol emanating from inside a vehicle indicates a spill (as the officers 
inferred) rather than a previously opened bottle onto which the lid had been securely 
reattached. Here, for example, if the wine bottle had not leaked, it is unlikely the officers 
would have smelled anything through a capped glass bottle, even if the original seal had 
been broken. Country common sense would likewise lead one to believe that an 
intoxicated person would be more likely to have an open container in the vehicle from 
which he or she had been drinking than a sober person who had passed the field sobriety 
tests. Here, we know that Stevenson was cleared of driving under the influence, and we 
do not know whether he even smelled of alcohol. 
 
Moreover, as the Court of Appeals majority recites, the existence of probable 
cause is to be determined from the totality of the circumstances under which the search 
occurred. Stevenson, 46 Kan. App. 2d at 480. "A review of the totality of the 
18 
 
 
 
circumstances should, as the phrase implies, also include a consideration of the 
exculpatory factors." Allen v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue, 292 Kan. 653, 660, 256 P.3d 845 
(2011) (Johnson, J., dissenting), disapproved of by Sloop v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue, 296 
Kan. 13, 290 P.3d 555 (2012); see also State v. Edgar, 296 Kan. 513, 525, 294 P.3d 251 
(2013) (court must look at whole picture, including favorable results on field sobriety 
tests). Here, the vehicle was stopped in a well-lit area, and the detective stuck his head 
into the vehicle without observing any open container. That circumstance contradicts the 
notion that there would be a fair probability that a search of the vehicle would reveal an 
open container located in an impermissible part of the vehicle which was the source of 
the "very strong odor" of alcohol. 
 
In short, the totality of the circumstances in this case only establishes that the 
officers' observation of a very strong odor of alcohol emanating from within the vehicle, 
which they suspected to be the result of spilled alcohol, provided them with reasonable 
suspicion to extend the traffic infraction detention to further investigate whether 
Stevenson was transporting an open container of alcohol in violation of K.S.A. 2013 
Supp. 8-1599. The officers' failure to acquire additional inculpatory facts relating to the 
crime being investigated before commencing their search of the vehicle rendered the 
search unreasonable and unlawful. 
 
The Court of Appeals decision affirming the district court is reversed; Stevenson's 
conviction is reversed; and the matter is remanded to the district court for a new trial with 
the unlawfully seized evidence suppressed. 
 
Reversed and remanded.