Court Opinion

ID: 9497146
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:44:33.191214+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:58:01.748825
License: Public Domain

SMITH, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I believe the search inside the door panels in this case exceeded the scope of a search incident to a valid arrest. Police authority to search the passenger compartment of an automobile after the lawful arrest of its occupants is clear. New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 2860 (1981). The scope of the search includes the passenger compartment and any containers within the compartment. United States v. Wells, 347 F.3d 280, 287-288 (8th Cir.2003). As noted by the majority, the area that constitutes the passenger compartment has been interpreted broadly-however, it does have limits. United States v. Marchena-Borjas, 209 F.3d 698 (8th Cir.2000) (a search incident to arrest under the hood of the defendant’s vap did not comport with Belton’s principles).
At the time Officer Degan parted the window well’s rubber seal and peered in with a penlight, Barnes was in handcuffs in the back of a patrol car, and Alstyne, who had also been searched for weapons, was well outside of the vehicle. There simply was no exigency. The majority justifies the search based upon Officer Degan’s suspicions aroused by a heavy door. The majority notes that the area immediately inside the rubber seal was reachable by an occupant and could conceivably conceal prohibited items including weapons. I do not believe that either Barnes or Alstyne posed any threat to the officers by their hypothetical ability to pry back the rubber seal of the car window and retrieve a weapon or deposit contraband. I share the concern expressed by Justices O’Con-nor and Scalia in Thornton that some may view a search incident to an arrest as “a police entitlement.” Thornton v. United States, — U.S.-, 124 S.Ct. 2127, 2133, 158 L.Ed.2d 905 (2004) (O’Connor, J., concurring); id. at -, 124 S.Ct. at 2134 (Scalia, J., joined by Ginsburg, J., concurring separately). I cannot agree that the facts of this case bring this search within the bounds of a Belton search incident to arrest.