Opinion ID: 764959
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Vehicle Stop and Search

Text: 11 Searcy argues on appeal that the stop and subsequent search of his vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. Searcy argues that Officer Vestal lacked probable cause or reasonable suspicion to justify the stop. He contends that the stop of his vehicle, due to an allegedly defective brake light, was pretextual and that the real reason for the stop was Detective Pettit's suspicion that he was carrying illegal drugs. Thus, Searcy argues that any evidence seized from his vehicle must be suppressed and cannot legally form the basis for the search warrants later obtained by the police to search Searcy's home. 12 We review a district court's legal Conclusions of probable cause and reasonable suspicion de novo, while the facts supporting the district court's denial of a motion to suppress are reviewed for clear error. See Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 699 (1996); United States v. Cunningham, 133 F.3d 1070, 1072 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 118 S. Ct. 1823 (1998). An officer may stop a vehicle when he has probable cause to believe that a traffic violation, however minor, has occurred. See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 812-13 (1996); United States v. Thomas, 93 F.3d 479, 485 (8th Cir. 1996). 13 After reviewing the record, we conclude that the district court was correct in determining that Officer Vestal's stop of Searcy's vehicle was not pretextual. Vestal testified that he stopped Searcy's vehicle because he was aware that the brake light was not functioning 5 and that Searcy's license was probably suspended. Probable cause exists where an officer objectively has a reasonable basis for believing that the driver has breached a traffic law. Thomas, 93 F.3d at 485. Although Detective Pettit did not share all his suspicions regarding Searcy with Officer Vestal, the information that was given to Vestal, without more, provided him with a reasonable basis for stopping Searcy's vehicle. The district court correctly examined the stop and search of Searcy's vehicle under a standard of objective reasonableness without regard to the underlying intent or motivation of the officers involved. Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138 (1977) (footnote omitted). We agree with the district court's determination that the traffic stop did not violate Searcy's Fourth Amendment rights. 14 Following the stop of the vehicle, Officer Vestal asked to see Searcy's driver's license and vehicle registration. Searcy could not produce the vehicle registration and admitted to the officer that his license was suspended. At that point, Officer Vestal could, and did, lawfully arrest Searcy and search his person and vehicle incident to the arrest. See United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 235 (1973) (search of person incident to arrest is reasonable search under Fourth Amendment); New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 460 (1981) (search of passenger compartment of vehicle following arrest of occupant is reasonable under Fourth Amendment). We find, therefore, that the district court correctly denied Searcy's motion to suppress the firearm and methamphetamine discovered by the officers in his vehicle and on his person. Further, this evidence could properly be used by Detective Pettit to support his request for a search warrant for Searcy's home.