Roadside Fourth Amendment exception analyzer, compartment reach matrix, and constitutional justification generator covering vehicle, street, premises, and digital property encounters.
Entire vehicle including trunk, glove compartment, console, and all containers (locked or unlocked) that could conceal the object of the search.
Officer must have specific articulable facts establishing fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime is currently inside the vehicle.
PROBABLE CAUSE AUTOMOBILE SEARCH CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO CARROLL DOCTRINE (U.S. V. ROSS, 456 U.S. 798). TARGET CONVEYANCE READILY MOBILE ON PUBLIC HIGHWAY. ARTICULATED PROBABLE CAUSE ESTABLISHED VIA INDEPENDENT OBSERVATIONS. SCOPE ENCOMPASSED ENTIRE INTERIOR, TRUNK, AND ALL CONTAINERS CAPABLE OF CONCEALING TARGET CONTRABAND.
Binding constitutional holdings and scope limitations established by the U.S. Supreme Court and Illinois Supreme Court.
Where probable cause exists that a readily mobile vehicle contains contraband, officers may search every part of the vehicle and its contents that could conceal the object, including locked containers (Wyoming v. Houghton).
Vehicle search incident to occupant arrest is lawful only if: (1) arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the passenger compartment, or (2) it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the arrest offense.
Officers with reasonable articulable suspicion that an occupant is armed and dangerous may conduct a protective sweep of the passenger compartment limited to areas where a weapon may be placed or hidden.
Warrantless caretaking inventory of lawfully impounded vehicle is permitted only pursuant to standardized departmental administrative policy. Cannot be used as a pretext for an investigatory search.
A dog sniff of the exterior of a lawfully stopped vehicle does not violate the Fourth Amendment, provided it does not prolong the stop beyond the time reasonably required to complete the traffic mission.
Under Illinois law, burnt cannabis odor alone does not create probable cause without signs of impairment (Redmond). Raw cannabis odor establishes probable cause due to 625 ILCS 5/11-502.15 sealed container mandates (Molina).