MD: Search of defendant’s car can’t be justified as a parole search when the officer was unaware of parole status at the time

The search of defendant’s car can’t be justified as a parole search when the officer was unaware of parole status at the time of the search. State v. Donaldson, 2015 Md. App. LEXIS 3 (January 28, 2015):

None of the cases cited by the State addressed a search that was conducted at a time when the police officer had no knowledge that the suspect was on parole. Consequently, even though Feaster, Knights, and Samson all address the quantum of suspicion necessary to conduct a lawful search of a known parolee, those cases do not hold that an otherwise unconstitutional search is authorized and beyond challenge on a motion to suppress if the police discover after the arrest that the suspect was on parole. It appears that no appellate opinion in Maryland has addressed that precise issue.

A handful of courts in other jurisdictions have addressed similar issues in analogous situations, and all have concluded that the reasonableness of a search must be viewed from the officer’s perspective at the time of the search, and therefore, an illegal search cannot be justified based on information discovered after the fact. These cases are consistent with the rule that, generally, the propriety of an arrest is to be analyzed based upon the facts known at the time of the arrest ….