Opinion ID: 3038224
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Automobile Search and Firearm Possession

Text: In a December 7, 2001 intercepted call, Page stated that Decoud was “cooking” cocaine base. The DEA then contacted the California Highway Patrol to ask for help in stopping Decoud’s automobile, with the expectation that a stop would be made as long as there was a legitimate, independent basis for doing so. 8694 UNITED STATES v. DECOUD Later that day, a highway patrol officer traveling with a narcotics canine pulled Decoud over for speeding and having improperly tinted windows. Once stopped, Decoud provided the officer with his driver’s license. After running a Department of Motor Vehicles check on Decoud’s license, the officer learned that the license had been suspended on account of his failure to appear for a prior violation. The officer arrested Decoud and impounded the automobile pursuant to the California Vehicle Code, which authorizes a peace officer to take possession of a vehicle when the driver has been arrested or cited for driving on a suspended license. CAL. VEH. CODE § 22651(p) (West 2001). The officer conducted an inventory search of the automobile’s contents while Decoud was still present and came across a cooking pot, duct tape, sandwich-size plastic baggies, cellular telephones, cash, and a locked metal briefcase. When asked about the briefcase, Decoud claimed that it did not belong to him and that he did not know how to open it. Decoud further stated that he had borrowed the automobile and that the briefcase belonged to the owner of the automobile. The officer then brought the canine over to the vehicle and the canine “alerted” to the presence of drugs in the briefcase. The officer forced it open and found inside a loaded semi-automatic handgun, a large supply of cocaine base, and a digital scale.