Opinion ID: 780062
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Terry's truck

Text: 74 [A] search conducted without a warrant issued upon probable cause is per se unreasonable, ... subject only to a few specifically-established and well-delineated exceptions. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 219, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973) (internal quotation marks omitted). Although the officers did not obtain a warrant to search Terry's truck, the district court found that the search was valid pursuant to three exceptions to the warrant requirement: Terry's consent, the automobile exception, and a search incident to Terry's arrest. 75 Terry's consent was allegedly given while being interrogated by law enforcement officers. Whether permission to search was freely given or was the result of coercion or duress presents a close question. See Van Shutters, 163 F.3d at 335 (The government has the burden of demonstrating that consent was `freely and voluntarily given,' and was not the result of coercion, duress, or submission to a claim of authority.) (quoting Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 U.S. 543, 548, 88 S.Ct. 1788, 20 L.Ed.2d 797 (1968)). We see no need not decide the issue of consent, however, because the search was clearly valid under the automobile exception. Under this exception, in cases where there was probable cause to search a vehicle[,] a search is not unreasonable if based on facts that would justify the issuance of a warrant, even though a warrant has not been actually obtained. Maryland v. Dyson, 527 U.S. 465, 467, 119 S.Ct. 2013, 144 L.Ed.2d 442 (1999) (emphasis omitted). 76 The automobile exception is applicable even in nonexigent circumstances, so long as the vehicle is mobile and law enforcement officers have probable cause to believe that it contains incriminating evidence. Id. at 466-67, 119 S.Ct. 2013. The test for `probable cause' is simply whether there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place. United States v. Lumpkin, 159 F.3d 983, 986 (6th Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks omitted). We review de novo the district court's finding of probable cause for purposes of the automobile exception. Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 700, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996). 77 The police had probable cause to believe that Terry's truck contained evidence of a crime. They knew that Terry had driven his truck to meet with Bill, at which point he paid Bill $2,500 to kill Jackson. During the meeting, Terry also told Bill that he was considering whether to arrange for other murders. There was a fair probability that other incriminating evidence — for example, another envelope with more money, or letters providing insight into Terry's murderous plots — would be found in the truck. Under these circumstances, the district court did not err in denying Terry's motion to suppress.