WA bright line rule on search incident of car barred search of this car where defendant locked it and sat on curb

When defendant was told that his car was going to be towed because he had no proof of insurance, he locked his car, sat on the curb, and refused to give up the keys without a search warrant. Because he was outside of the locked car, under the state’s bright-line search incident rule, the search of the car was improper. [The three divisions of the Washington Court of Appeals are essentially on agreement on this issue.] State v. Quinlivan, 142 Wn. App. 960, 176 P.3d 605 (2008):

[7] ¶25 Here, the uncontested findings are that Mr. Quinlivan got out of his truck, locked that truck, and walked some distance away from it to sit on a curb. Only then was he arrested by police. At that time, he did not have access to the passenger compartment of his car. As in Johnston, “[t]he State does not rely on any other exception to the warrant requirement.” 107 Wn. App. at 289. And, accordingly, police needed a warrant in order to search that vehicle incident to his arrest.

Defendant had standing to contest the stop under Brendlin, but not the search of the car under Rakas. There was an objective basis for the stop, and the driver gave consent. United States v. Lewis, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15238 (M.D. Fla. February 12, 2008).*