Court Opinion

ID: 9762101
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:10:38.833849+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:30.071237
License: Public Domain

HOLMAN, Judge
(dissenting).
I dissent for the reason that I do not think the search was unlawful. The search was clearly an incident to a lawful arrest for a traffic offense. “The right to search incident to arrest is deeply rooted in the common law. The rule reflects, as Justice Cardozo once observed, a ‘shrewd appreciation for the necessities of government.’ As a practical matter, the courts recognized that a police officer must have some power to conduct an immediate search following arrest in order to remove any weapons from the reach of a suspect and to prevent him from destroying evidence of the crime. While early decisions limited the search to the person of the accused, the doctrine was extended in later years to things within the ‘immediate possession’ or ‘control’ of the suspect.” Hotis, Search of Motor Vehicles, Dickinson Law Review, 1969, p. 421. And I approve the statement of Burton Agata in St. Louis University Law Journal, 1962, p. 6, that “The necessity to search for weapons or other instru-mentalities for use in escape creates a situation where the interest of privacy is subordinated to the need for providing an arresting officer with an effective means to protect himself from bodily injury and, perhaps death. What then is the basis for suggesting that a person properly arrested has a claim to privacy which is greater than the interest in preserving the arresting officer’s life, merely because the arrest is for a traffic violation?” The recent decisions in State v. Moody, Mo.Sup., 443 S. W.2d 802, and State v. Robinson, Mo.Sup., 447 S.W.2d 71, sustain the validity of the search of the person of the driver as an incident to the lawful arrest of the driver for a traffic offense. One basis of the holdings expressed in Moody is the necessity for providing the arresting officer with protection against injury or death. 443 S.W.2d 804. The question is whether or not this is sufficient reason for a search of that portion of the interior of the vehicle which is accessible to the driver. In Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 763, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 2040, 23 L.Ed.2d 685, 694, the court found “ample justification * * * for a search of the arrestee’s person and the area ‘within his immediate control’— construing that phrase to mean the area from which he might gain possession of a weapon * * In my opinion, the portion of the vehicle searched in this case falls within that limitation. It was within a few inches of the right hand of the driv*70er. It has been said that Chimel is not strictly applicable to a vehicle search situation but that is because a more liberal rule is applied in determining the validity of the search of an automobile. See Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 90 S.Ct.1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419, and Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543. However, the search in this case would be considered lawful even under a strict application of the Chimel rule. I think we should clearly state in this case that whenever an occupant of a motor vehicle is lawfully arrested (even for a traffic offense) the officer may search the area of the vehicle from which the arrestee might gain control of a weapon. This for the reason that it sometimes happens that such a person will unexpectedly and for no apparent reason seize a weapon and injure or kill the officer. While that does not happen often, a rule of law should be followed which would be likely to entirely prevent such an occurrence. As stated in Moody, “We believe that police officers, while in the performance of their official duties, are entitled to all the safety and protection we can give them within constitutional limitations.” 443 S.W.2d 804.
In this case it is true that the defendant and his passenger had left the automobile when the search occurred. However, had he not found the marijuana, it is likely that the officer intended to permit them to resume possession of the car after he had completed the arrest process. In that situation it was entirely reasonable, for his protection, that he first ascertain whether any weapon would be available to them at that time. While the decision in Moody was expressly limited to a situation involving search of the person, I doubt if anyone could read that opinion without concluding that the authorities and reasoning therein, if applied to the case before us, would compel a decision that the instant search was reasonable and lawful.
I would affirm the judgment.