Search incident of the person of one arrested for civil nonsupport is reasonable under Robinson and Gant. Defendant was known to be a gang member, and a gang and drug multijurisdictional unit found him on a train, and there was a civil warrant for nonsupport. People v. Cregan, 2014 IL 113600, 2014 Ill. LEXIS 90 (February 21, 2014):
[*P27] The appellate court held that the search of defendant’s luggage was valid incident to his arrest under this court’s decision in Hoskins. In Hoskins, the defendant ran from police officers after being told she was under arrest for prostitution. As she fled, the defendant either threw her purse to the ground or dropped it. One of the officers caught defendant, subdued her, and handcuffed her behind her back. The other officer searched defendant’s purse, finding an envelope containing a hypodermic syringe and cocaine. Hoskins, 101 Ill. 2d at 212. This court held the search was valid incident to the defendant’s arrest under the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (1973). Hoskins, 101 Ill. 2d [209,] at 216 [(1984)].
[*P28] In Robinson, the Supreme Court distinguished between two types of search incident to arrest: the search of the person arrested and the search of the area within his control. Robinson, 414 U.S. at 224. These searches serve different purposes and are justified by different concerns. A search of the person incident to his arrest is based on the need to disarm the individual and to discover evidence. However, the search need not be justified by probable cause to search for weapons or evidence; the search of the person requires no additional justification beyond the fact of his lawful custodial arrest, which is itself justified by probable cause. Id. at 235. …
[*P29] The search of the area of the arrest, on the other hand, must be justified by the possibility that the arrestee might gain possession of a weapon or destroy evidence. The scope of an area search is, therefore, limited to the area within the arrestee’s immediate control. Gant, 556 U.S. at 335.
[*P30] Whether Hoskins Survived Gant
[*P31] On appeal to this court, defendant argues this court’s decision in People v. Hoskins is no longer good law following the United States Supreme Court’s 2009 decision in Arizona v. Gant. Defendant observes that in Gant, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the long-standing principle that police officers may search incident to arrest only the area within an arrestee’s immediate control, meaning the area where he might gain possession of a weapon or destructible evidence. Gant, 556 U.S. at 335 (quoting Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 763 (1969)). Although Gant involved the search of a vehicle, defendant maintains the reasoning of that case applies to all searches incident to arrest, abrogating both New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 459-63 (1981) (upholding searches of vehicle and all containers within upon the arrest of an occupant), and Robinson, 414 U.S. at 234-36 (upholding searches of arrestee’s person and containers within pockets, irrespective of individualized likelihood of a weapon or evidence of the arrest offense). Defendant contends this court’s holding in Hoskins, that items immediately associated with an arrestee’s person may be searched with no additional justification other than a lawful arrest, can no longer be sustained. Accordingly, defendant contends the appellate court erred in upholding the search of his luggage under Hoskins.
[*P32] Defendant reads Gant to have a broad reach. …
[*P33] Hoskins, however, relied on Robinson’s rule for search of the person incident to arrest. “The search of the purse here was proper under Robinson as incident to the defendant’s lawful arrest. [Citations.] Thus, Robinson authorizes a warrantless search of the defendant’s purse, which is immediately associated with defendant’s person, simply on the lawful, custodial arrest.” Hoskins, 101 Ill. 2d at 217. The Hoskins court separately considered arguments about an inventory search, abandonment of the property, and the search of an area for evidence of an offense. Id. at 218-21. Yet these parallel considerations do not alter or undermine the Hoskins court’s ruling on the purse as an object “immediately associated” with the person of the arrestee: that Robinson allows such a search.
[*P34] Defendant does not point to, and we do not find, any portion of the Gant decision that indicates abrogation of Robinson’s holding on search of the person incident to arrest. In no prior case has the Supreme Court used the area of the arrestee’s control as a limit on the search of a person incident to arrest, and at no point in Gant is such a limit imposed. Indeed, the Supreme Court continues to cite Robinson for a per se rule allowing a full search of the arrestee’s person incident to arrest without additional justification other than the lawful arrest. In Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. __, __, 133 S. Ct. 1958, 1970-71 (2013), the Supreme Court reaffirmed the ruling in Robinson, stating: …. We therefore conclude Gant does not apply to a search incident to arrest of the defendant’s person or items immediately associated with the defendant’s person. The search in those circumstances is still controlled by the Supreme Court’s decision in Robinson. Our decision in Hopkins, based on the rule in Robinson, is undisturbed by Gant.
