Opinion ID: 396352
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Search of the Person at the Station House.

Text: 23 The government's most persuasive argument is that United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800, 94 S.Ct. 1234, 39 L.Ed.2d 771 (1974), and its progeny, such as United States v. Passaro, 624 F.2d 938 (9th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1113, 101 S.Ct. 925, 66 L.Ed.2d 842 (1981), and United States v. Ziller, 623 F.2d 562 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 877, 101 S.Ct. 221, 66 L.Ed.2d 99 (1980), justifies the warrantless search of the purse. 24 To analyze this issue properly, it is important to distinguish between the Edwards holding and its dicta on which the government relies. Edwards authorized a warrantless search of a suspect's clothes at the station house. The government, however, relies on the following statement in Edwards: (S) earches and seizures that could be made on the spot at the time of the arrest may legally be conducted later when the accused arrives at the place of detention. Edwards, 415 U.S. at 803, 94 S.Ct. at 1237. We agree with the government that if we were to follow this dicta the warrantless search of Monclavo-Cruz' purse would probably be legal because the officer could probably have searched it at the time of arrest under Belton. We do not reach this question, however. We find that this broad statement in Edwards, in contrast to its holding, has been circumscribed by Chadwick and Sanders. 25 To paraphrase Sanders, 442 U.S. at 757, 99 S.Ct. at 2589, we are presented with the task of determining whether the warrantless search of (appellant's purse) falls on the Chadwick or the (Robinson/Edwards) side of the Fourth Amendment line. Although in a sense this is a line-drawing process it must be guided by established principles. In Sanders, Justice Powell undertook a summary of these principles. He stated that the mere reasonableness of a search, assessed in the light of the surrounding circumstances, is not a substitute for the judicial warrant required under the Fourth Amendment, and that only a few 'jealously and carefully drawn' exceptions provide for those cases where the societal costs of obtaining a warrant, such as danger to law officers or the risk of loss or destruction of evidence, outweigh the reasons for prior recourse to a neutral magistrate. Sanders, 442 U.S. at 758, 759, 99 S.Ct. at 2590. In light of these principles, we confine the Edwards exception to the person and clothing of an arrestee. 26 The Court in Chadwick specifically distinguished Edwards in the following manner: 27 Unlike searches of the person, United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (94 S.Ct. 467, 38 L.Ed.2d 427) (1973); United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800 (94 S.Ct. 1234, 39 L.Ed.2d 771) (1974), searches of possessions within an arrestee's immediate control cannot be justified by any reduced expectations of privacy caused by the arrest. 28 Chadwick, 433 U.S. at 16 n.10, 97 S.Ct. at 2486 n.10. We understand this footnote to mean that once a person is lawfully seized and placed under arrest, she has a reduced expectation of privacy in her person. Thus, a search of a cigarette case on the person is lawful once the person is under arrest without reference to any possible danger to the police, United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 94 S.Ct. 467, 38 L.Ed.2d 427 (1973); and the search of a person's clothes taken from him at the jail the day after his arrest is also lawful simply as reasonable jailhouse procedure. United States v. Edwards, supra. In reliance on this line of authority, we approved the warrantless search of an arrested person's wallet taken from his person. United States v. Passaro, 624 F.2d at 943; United States v. Ziller, 623 F.2d at 562-63. We find it significant that the Passaro court characterized the wallet of the arrested person as an element of his clothing. Passaro, 624 F.2d at 944. 29 Relying on Passaro and Ziller, the government contends that a purse on the lap at the time of arrest is much like a wallet in the pocket, and thus the warrantless search of the purse should be upheld. We disagree. 30 Although we recognize that there is a fine line between a wallet on the person and a purse within an arrestee's immediate control, we hold that possessions within an arrestee's immediate control have fourth amendment protection at the station house unless the possession can be characterized as an element of the clothing, or another exception to the fourth amendment requirements applies. Monclavo-Cruz' purse, like a suitcase or briefcase in which a suspect has a fourth amendment interest at the station house, cannot be characterized as an element of her clothing or person, even if it were on her lap at the time of arrest. Although the officer had a right under Belton to search the purse taken from the car at the time of Monclavo-Cruz' arrest, we hold that the officer had no right to conduct a warrantless search of the purse at the station house. 3 31 The broad reading of Edwards proposed by the government would allow the police to seize everything within the passenger compartment of a car, take it to the station house, and search it without probable cause, a warrant, or reasonable reliance on the inventory or automobile exceptions. In light of Chadwick, we decline to create such a broad exception to the requirements of the fourth amendment that would have no independent justification under either the rationale for the Edwards or Belton rules. Moreover, we believe that police officers, mindful of the preference for warrants long recognized by the Supreme Court, will not find it too burdensome to secure a warrant under appropriate circumstances.