Opinion ID: 470276
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Opening the Bag

Text: 19 Once the police had probable cause to search the car in this case, they had the right to open all containers within it that might have contained contraband or evidence of the criminal activity. In United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 102 S.Ct. 2157, 72 L.Ed.2d 572 (1982), the Supreme Court held that when the police have probable cause to search an automobile, they may conduct a search of the vehicle that is as thorough as a magistrate could authorize in a warrant particularly describing the place to be searched, id. at 800, including the opening of closed packages. The Court distinguished cases such as United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977), and Arkansas v. Sanders, 442 U.S. 753, 99 S.Ct. 2586, 61 L.Ed.2d 235 (1979), explaining that in those cases the police did not have probable cause to search the vehicle or anything within it except the footlocker in the former case and the green suitcase in the latter. Ross, 456 U.S. at 814, 102 S.Ct. at 2167. In Ross, by contrast, the probable cause went to the entire vehicle, and the Court held that the police could open any container within the vehicle in which the sought after contraband might have been hidden. 20 As we have already discussed, see supra pp. 201-202, the police had probable cause to search the entire car in this case, not just the bag that they happened to see through the window. Thus, the police had the right to open the bag as well, and the shotgun found in it should not have been suppressed.