{"id":4096,"date":"2010-06-22T15:18:22","date_gmt":"2010-04-23T13:45:41","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-23T13:45:41","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=4096","title":{"rendered":"DC: No GFE for pre-Gant<\/em> search; Belton<\/em> was on shaky ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gant<\/a> and the exclusionary rule applied to a pre-Gant search. Belton was no longer \u201csettled law,\u201d and it was narrowing. Essentially, Gant<\/a> was not a surprise. United States v. Debruhl<\/a>, 993 A.2d 571 (D.C. App. 2010):<\/p>\n

This case presents the question whether the federal \u201cexclusionary rule\u201d should be applied retroactively to a pending case after the Supreme Court has issued a decision expanding Fourth Amendment protection that would benefit the defendant if the rule applies.<\/p>\n

At the time of appellee Debruhl\u2019s arrest for a traffic violation, New York v. Belton, as commonly interpreted, allowed the police to search the passenger compartment of an automobile without a warrant, and virtually without restriction, when incident to a lawful arrest. Before Debruhl\u2019s trial, however, in Arizona v. Gant, the Supreme Court narrowed Belton by precluding warrantless searches of an automobile after the occupants had been removed and secured with handcuffs, and thus no longer remained a threat to police safety or to preservation of evidence. The parties agree that Gant\u2019s revised interpretation of the Fourth Amendment applies retroactively to all cases \u201cnot yet final.\u201d Therefore, because Debruhl, like Gant, had been removed from his car and handcuffed before the arresting officers conducted their search, it is undisputed that the search of Debruhl\u2019s car was unconstitutional. As a consequence, argues Debruhl, the evidence seized from his car \u2013 cocaine and related drug paraphernalia \u2013 must be suppressed under the traditional exclusionary rule.<\/p>\n

To the contrary, says the government, the evidence is admissible under the \u201cgood faith\u201d exception to the exclusionary rule because of the officers\u2019 reasonable, objective reliance on \u201csettled law\u201d \u2013 on the Belton line of cases \u2013 while conducting their search before Gant was decided. We cannot agree. As interpreted in this jurisdiction and in several federal circuits, Belton did not reflect \u201csettled law\u201d on which police officers could reasonably rely in conducting the warrantless search on the facts of this case. We therefore agree with the trial court\u2019s decision to reject the good-faith exception and suppress the evidence seized from Debruhl\u2019s car. Accordingly, we affirm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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