Opinion ID: 161398
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Probable Cause to Search the Secret Compartment

Text: 25 Although the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement is based in part on the ready mobility of automobiles, the justification to conduct such a warrantless search does not vanish once the car has been immobilized; nor does it depend upon a reviewing court's assessment of the likelihood in each particular case that the car would have been driven away, or that its contents would have been tampered with, during the period required for the police to obtain a warrant. 26 United States v. Anderson, 114 F.3d 1059, 1066 (10th Cir. 1997) (quoting Michigan v. Thomas, 458 U.S. 259, 261 (1982) (per curiam)). Probable cause to search a vehicle is established if, under the totality of the circumstances, there is a fair probability that the car contains contraband or evidence. United States v. Downs, 151 F.3d 1301, 1303 (10th Cir. 1998) (internal quotation marks and emphasis omitted). The scope of a warrantless search of an automobile 'is defined by the object of the search and the places in which there is probable cause to believe that it may be found.' United States v. Nielsen, 9 F.3d 1487, 1491 (10th Cir. 1993) (quoting United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 824 (1982)). It is well established that although probable cause to search a car may not exist when a car is first stopped for a traffic citation, it can arise during the course of the stop. United States v. West, 219 F.3d 1171, 1178 (10th Cir. 2000) (citing Colorado v. Bannister, 449 U.S. 1 (1980)). 27 An officer's detection of the smell of drugs . . . in a car is entitled to substantial weight in the probable cause analysis and can be an independently sufficient basis for probable cause. West, 219 F.3d at 1178; see also United States v. Ozbirn, 189 F.3d 1194, 1200 (10th Cir. 1999) (holding that odor of raw marijuana, combined with nervous behavior and vague description of travel plans, satisfied probable cause standard). When an officer encounters the smell of raw marijuana, there is the fair probability that the vehicle is being used to transport marijuana and that the marijuana has been secreted in places other than the passenger compartment. Downs, 151 F.3d at 1303. 28 Inspector Pacheco detected the odor of raw marijuana. Viewing this under the totality of the circumstances the unusually small amount of cargo, the irregularities in the log book and bill of lading, the space between the inner wall and outer hull of the trailer, the footprints on the front wall, the new appearance of the front wall and siderails compared with the rest of the trailer, and the vent which appeared to serve no purpose we find that probable cause existed to search the secret compartment in the trailer. See Dominguez-Prieto, 923 F.2d at 470 (holding that irregular log book entries and empty trailer contributed to probable cause to search for contraband). Consequently, we hold that this search did not violate Mr. Vasquez-Castillo's Fourth Amendment rights.