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New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981)
New York v. Belton No. 80-328 Argued April 27, 1981 Decided July 1, 1981 453 U.S. 454
CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NEW YORK
Syllabus
An automobile in which respondent was one of the occupants was stopped by a New York State policeman for traveling at an excessive rate of speed. In the process of discovering that none of the occupants owned the car or was related to the owner, the policeman smelled burnt marihuana and saw on the floor of the car an envelope suspected of containing marihuana. He then directed the occupants to get out of the car and arrested them for unlawful possession of marihuana. After searching each of the occupants, he searched the passenger compartment of the car, found a jacket belonging to respondent, unzipped one of the pockets, and discovered cocaine. Subsequently, respondent was indicted for criminal possession of a controlled substance. After the trial court had denied his motion to suppress the cocaine seized from his jacket pocket, respondent pleaded guilty to a lesser included offense, while preserving his claim that the cocaine had been seized in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the search and seizure, but the New York Court of Appeals reversed.
Held: The search of respondent’s jacket was a search incident to a lawful custodial arrest, and hence did not violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The jacket, being located inside the passenger compartment of the car, was "within the arrestee’s immediate control" within the meaning of Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, wherein it was held that a lawful custodial arrest creates a situation justifying the contemporaneous warrantless search of the arrestee and of the immediately surrounding area. Not only may the police search the passenger compartment of the car in such circumstances, they may also examine the contents of any containers found in the passenger compartment. And such a container may be searched whether it is open or closed, since the justification for the search is not that the arrestee has no privacy interest in the container, but that the lawful custodial arrest justifies the infringement of any privacy interest the arrestee may have. Pp. 457-463.
50 N.Y.2d 447, 407 N.E.2d 420, reversed.
STEWART, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. REHNQUIST, J., filed a concurring statement, post, p. 463. STEVENS, J., filed a statement concurring in the judgment, post, p. 463. BRENNAN, J., post, p. 463, and WHITE, J., post, p. 472, filed dissenting opinions, in which MARSHALL, J., joined.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981) in 453 U.S. 454 453 U.S. 455. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=L9IQRCBP6FI4ELG.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981), in 453 U.S. 454, page 453 U.S. 455. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=L9IQRCBP6FI4ELG.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (1981). cited in 1981, 453 U.S. 454, pp.453 U.S. 455. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=L9IQRCBP6FI4ELG.
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