Opinion ID: 811589
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Search of the Motor Home

Text: We review the district court’s findings of fact for clear error, and we review de novo whether the search of Coleman’s motor home violated the Fourth Amendment. See Olivera-Mendez, 484 F.3d at 509. Officers may search a vehicle without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe the vehicle contains contraband. See United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 800 (1982). This automobile exception applies equally to motor homes. See California v. Carney, 471 U.S. 386, 390-94 (1985). -8- Coleman told Trooper Bauer there was marijuana in his vehicle, providing probable cause to search the vehicle for drugs. “If probable cause justifies the search of a lawfully stopped vehicle, it justifies the search of every part of the vehicle and its contents that may conceal the object of the search.” Ross, 456 U.S. at 825. Trooper Bauer could lawfully search every part of the motor home where marijuana might have been, including under the bed where the weapon was found. Assuming the trooper lacked probable cause to search beyond where Coleman told him the marijuana was located in the motor home, the trooper was justified, at the time, in performing a protective sweep to make sure no passengers were hiding in the motor home. See United States v. Thomas, 249 F.3d 725, 730 (8th Cir. 2001) (explaining the “search of the van was reasonably necessary for the officers’ personal safety in conducting the stop because other occupants in the van could pose a significant danger to the officers”). Coleman argues the motor home was more like a residence than a vehicle, and as such, the sweep should have been limited to the space within Coleman’s immediate control. However, a motor home in transit on a public highway is being used as a vehicle and is therefore subject to a reduced expectation of privacy. See Carney, 471 U.S. at 392-93. In the context of a traffic stop, we have repeatedly held “officers may take such additional steps as are reasonably necessary to protect their personal safety and to maintain the status quo during the course of the stop.” Thomas, 249 F.3d at 729 (quoting United States v. Doffin, 791 F.2d 118, 120 (8th Cir. 1986)) (internal quotation marks omitted). The district court found that the space under the bed was large enough to hide a person, and the sweep justifiably could extend to this area for the officer’s protection from a possible hidden assailant. -9- Once Trooper Bauer observed the weapons-type bag in plain view during the lawful protective sweep, and the bag was readily identifiable as a gun case, the trooper had probable cause to believe the bag contained contraband, see, e.g., United States v. Banks, 514 F.3d 769, 774-75 (8th Cir. 2008), because Trooper Bauer knew Coleman’s criminal history included felony offenses. Because the search of the motor home was conducted with probable cause, and was reasonable otherwise, the district court did not err in finding Coleman’s Fourth Amendment rights had not been violated.