Opinion ID: 750919
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Arrest and automobile search

Text: 8 Whether exigent circumstances justify a warrantless arrest or seizure is a question of law reviewed de novo. United States v. Gooch, 6 F.3d 673, 679 (9th Cir.1993). Whether probable cause supports a warrantless search of a vehicle is a question of law reviewed de novo. Ornelas v. United States, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 1663 (1996). We look to the totality of the circumstances known to the officers prior to any search conducted incident to an arrest, and will find that probable cause exists when police officers have reasonably trustworthy information sufficient to warrant a prudent person in believing that the accused had committed an offense. United States v. Harvey, 3 F.3d 1294, 1296 (9th Cir.1993). 9 By the time Fernandez's car was searched and he was placed under arrest, police had abundant probable cause to believe that he was the robber and that his unusual El Camino was the getaway car. The teller's identification of Fernandez was sufficiently trustworthy to cause a prudent person to believe that Fernandez had committed the bank robbery. Where the suspect's race, build and distinctive clothing are known to an eyewitness, the probabilities of all of these characteristics matching an innocent person at that time and place [are] not so great as to make it imprudent to rely upon ... [the eyewitness'] identification. Id. at 1296. 10 Inasmuch as the officers had probable cause to search Fernandez's car and arrest him, 1 the evidence seized as a result of this search was admissible at trial to prove that Fernandez robbed the Great Western Bank in Huntington Beach on December 7, 1995.