Opinion ID: 177579
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Heading: The Search of Grote’s Vehicle

Text: The officers’ search of Grote’s vehicle was permissible as a search incident to arrest under Arizona v. Gant, 129 S. Ct. 1710, 1719 (2009), because it was “‘reasonable to believe evidence relevant to the crime of arrest might be found in the vehicle.’” Id. (quoting Thornton v. United States, 541 U.S. 615, 632 (2004) (Scalia, J., concurring)). It was reasonable to believe that the car might contain one or more bottles of open liquor or drugs. Because officers had reasonable belief that the car contained evidence relevant to a DUI, they could legally search the entire passenger compartment under Gant. See id. There was no need for officers to limit their search to the brown paper bag. (“[t]he offense of arrest will supply a basis for searching the passenger compartment of an arrestee’s vehicle and any containers therein.”) (emphasis added).