Minnesota Handbook on Motor Vehicles: Stops, Warrantless Searches, Seizures BASED ON MINNESOTA & FEDERAL CASE LAW HON. ALAN F PENDLETON TENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT JUDGE STATE OF MINNESOTA 2012 HON. ALAN F. PENDLETON, TENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT JUDGE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NO PART OF THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE REPRODUCED, TRANSMITTED OR COPIED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS GRAPHIC, ELECTRONIC, OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR BY INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE HON. ALAN F. PENDLETON. MINNESOTA HANDBOOK ON MOTOR VEHICLES: Stops, Warrantless Searches, Seizures By __________________________________ Hon. Alan F. Pendleton Tenth Judicial District Court Judge ___________________________________ Research Assistants: Michelle Margoles, University of Minnesota Extern Ian Mitchell, University of Minnesota Extern Chelsey Abrahamson, University of Minnesota Extern Manuscript Review and Editing By: Lisa M. Damhof, Abby M. Novak, Kevin Toskey, Abigail Wucherer FIRST EDITION: AUGUST 2012 Hon. Alan F. Pendleton Anoka County Courthouse 325 East Main Street Anoka, Minnesota 55303 Telephone: (763) 422-7309 E-Mail: [email protected] INTRODUCTORY NOTE ___________________________________ THIS HANDBOOK IS DESIGNED TO SERVE A DUAL PURPOSE: 1. To provide judges, attorneys and law enforcement officers with a comprehensive reference guide to the laws governing motor vehicle stops and the seven (7) exceptions to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement under which warrantless searches of motor vehicles may be justified. and 2. For use as the instructor’s manual in conjunction with the Judicial Training video entitled: MOTOR VEHICLES: Stops, Warrantless Searches, Seizures i USE OF HANDBOOK ALONG WITH THE VIDEO DURING CRIMINAL JUSTICE TRAINING SESSIONS ___________________________________ INSTRUCTIONS Training sessions utilizing this handbook and the video are estimated to last approximately four (4) to six (6) hours. The video is broken down into nine (9) Chapters which incorporate 13 stop and search hypotheticals (vignettes). These vignettes plot situations specifically designed to illustrate when and under what circumstances a vehicle can be searched without a warrant. In each vignette, after a vehicle is stopped or approached by officers, various parts of the vehicle, including open, closed and locked containers of various size and shapes, are searched by officers without a warrant. At the commencement of the search of each item, the video freezes and a question materializes on the screen. All of the questions that appear in the video are numbered (e.g. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.). The video itself does not provide the answer to any of the questions. The answers to all video questions are contained in this handbook. The handbook answers are numbered to correspond with the video questions (e.g. 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.). During the showing of the video, each question appears and remains on the screen for approximately six (6) to eight (8) seconds. If the question cannot be adequately answered within that timeframe, the video should be placed on “pause” to allow additional time to discuss the answer. It is anticipated that in order to thoroughly discuss the answer to most questions, the video will have to be placed on “pause” after the question has been read orally. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. MOTOR VEHICLE STOPS SECTION 1.1 WHAT IS THE GENERAL RULE? ...................................................................................... 1 1. General Rule - Reasonable Suspicion .............................................................................. 1 2. Application of Fourth Amendment................................................................................... 1 3. Definition of "Stop" (Seizure) .......................................................................................... 1 4. Stop v. Contact .................................................................................................................. 1 SECTION 1.2 WHAT CONSTITUTES A MOTOR VEHICLE? ................................................................ 2 SECTION 1.3 WHAT CONSTITUTES REASONABLE SUSPICION?..................................................... 2 1. What is Reasonable Suspicion? ........................................................................................ 2 2. Minimal Factual Basis Needed to Justify Stop ................................................................ 2 3. The Totality of the Circumstances .................................................................................... 2 SECTION 1.4 WHAT ABOUT INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM INFORMANTS? ........................ 3 1. Anonymous Informants .................................................................................................... 3 2. Private Citizen Informants ................................................................................................ 3 3. Other Police Agencies ....................................................................................................... 4 SECTION 1.5 CAN OFFICERS STOP A VEHICLE OUTSIDE THEIR JURISDICTION? ..................... 4 1. Investigative Stops ............................................................................................................ 4 2. Arrests ................................................................................................................................ 4 3. Citizens Arrest ................................................................................................................... 5 SECTION 1.6 VEHICLE STOPS FOR COMPLETED CRIMES ................................................................ 5 1. Completed Crimes (felonies v. misdemeanors) ............................................................... 5 2. Ongoing Misdemeanor Crimes ......................................................................................... 5 3. Exceptions ......................................................................................................................... 5 SECTION 1.7 APPROACHING AN ALREADY STOPPED VEHICLE ................................................... 6 1. General Rule ...................................................................................................................... 6 2. Asking Driver for Identification ....................................................................................... 6 3. "Good Samaritan" Investigations...................................................................................... 6 SECTION 1.8 WHAT CAN AN OFFICER DO ONCE A VEHICLE IS STOPPED? ................................ 6 1. Plain View Observations................................................................................................... 6 2. Ordering Driver and Occupants of Motor Vehicle Out of Car ........................................ 6 3. Demand for Identification and Proof of Insurance ........................................................... 6 4. Limited Search for Identification………………………………………………………7 5. Limited Search to Inspect Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) ................................... 7 6. Investigative Questions and The Application of Miranda ............................................... 7 7. Expanding the Scope of the Initial Stop………………………………………………..7 SECTION 1.9 HOW LONG CAN THE VEHICLE AND OCCUPANTS BE DETAINED? ..................... 8 SECTION 1.10 CAN VEHICLES BE SEARCHED WITHOUT A WARRANT? ....................................... 8 SECTION 1.11 EXCEPTIONS TO THE WARRANT REQUIREMENT. .................................................... 9 ENDNOTES ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 iii CHAPTER 2. SEARCH INCIDENT TO ARREST SECTION 2.1 WHAT IS THE GENERAL RULE? .................................................................................... 20 1. General Rule .................................................................................................................... 20 2. Legal Justification ........................................................................................................... 20 3. Scope of Vehicle Search ................................................................................................. 20 SECTION 2.2 VIGNETTE #1 D.W.I. ARREST ......................................................................................... 21 2.3 Can the Vehicle be Searched Without a Warrant? ............................................................... 22 2.4 Can the Passenger Compartment Area be Searched? ........................................................... 23 2.5 Can a Purse be Searched? ..................................................................................................... 23 2.6 What if the Purse Belongs to a Non-arrested Occupant? ..................................................... 24 2.7 Can the Glove Box, Phone and Ashtray be Searched? ........................................................ 24 2.8 Can Miscellaneous Clothing be Searched?........................................................................... 25 2.9 Can Small Containers be Searched? ..................................................................................... 25 2.10 Can Large Containers be Searched? ..................................................................................... 25 2.11 Can Locked Containers be Searched? .................................................................................