NJ: Sufficient exigency shown for automobile exception where confederates or interlopers could get at car

Under New Jersey’s heightened standard of exigency for an automobile search (tied with a preference for telephonic warrants where exigency is lacking), the state showed exigency because of actions of confederates or potential interlopers. State v. Lewis, 411 N.J. Super. 483, 987 A.2d 135 (2010):

We conclude that the facts of this case are closer to the facts in Pena-Flores than to those in Fuller and that, applying the factors relevant to an exigency analysis identified in the Pena-Flores-Fuller opinion, the State made a sufficient showing of exigent circumstances to uphold the search in this case. The stop of defendant’s van occurred at night in a Plainfield neighborhood known for high crime and drug sales. As in Pena-Flores, the police had no reason to anticipate in advance that defendants would be involved in drug activity because the targets of their investigation were Courtney and Porter, not defendants. Moreover, the stop of defendant’s car occurred at a location where it could be readily observed by persons in the neighborhood, such as the five or six people who congregated in the area after the stop. If they drove by, the occupants of the Camry who apparently had purchased drugs from defendants also would have been likely to observe the van and assume that it contained drugs. Therefore, it cannot be said in this case, as in Fuller, that “[t]here is nothing in the record to suggest that [defendants] had cohorts who might have come on the scene.” 198 N.J. at 32.

Moreover, although a second police car arrived on the scene after the stop, the search of the car and leather case had already been completed before then. Furthermore, it is unclear whether the officers in the second police car would have been available to detain defendants while Detectives Black and Staten applied for a warrant, because the officers involved in the Courtney-Porter investigation were responsible for searching four different residences, a car, and the persons of Courtney and Porter, and according to Detective Black, “were stretched out kind of thin.”

In addition, unlike in Fuller, defendants had not been placed under arrest when Detective Black searched their car. In fact, while we agree with the trial court’s conclusion that Detective Alston’s observation of Jason Lewis engaging in an apparent drug transaction with Courtney, who was one of the targets of the warrants, and Detective Black’s observation of Jerome Lewis apparently discarding something between the seats of the car, provided probable cause to believe there were drugs in the car, it does not automatically follow that those observations, by themselves, without the discovery of drugs, would have been sufficient to establish probable cause to arrest defendants. See State v. Chippero, N.J. , (2009) (slip op. at 15-20) (discussing the distinction between probable cause to search and probable cause to arrest). Consequently, if the circumstances confronted by the police officers in this case were found not to have been exigent, the police may have been required to temporarily detain defendants during the period required to seek a warrant.

For all these reasons, we conclude that the State made a sufficient showing of exigent circumstances under the factors set forth in Pena-Flores to justify a warrantless search under the automobile exception.