WY: Arrest for violation of an order of protection permitted a search incident

Arrest for violation of an order of protection permitted a search incident, despite a dearth of findings from the district court. Sam v. State, 2008 WY 25, 177 P.3d 1173 (2008) (3-2):

[*P13] Because it is dispositive of this appeal, we will limit our consideration only to that exception which sanctions a search of the automobile for evidence which might relate to the crime for which Sam was arrested. Sam was arrested for multiple reasons, but the record is clear that the initial stop and the initial arrest were for violations of a protection order. Our careful review of the record convinces us that Beck’s search of Sam’s car was reasonable under all of the circumstances detailed above. That the cursory search of the car’s interior uncovered evidence of the possession with intent to deliver proscribed narcotics, rather than evidence of the violation of the protection order, does not negate the admissibility of that evidence under our Vasquez rule. We do not think it is a requirement that a police officer be able to recite a specific list of what sorts of evidence might be relevant in such a circumstance, but some items identified were cell phones (which Sam used to make harassing calls), or writings of any sort that indicated what Sam’s intentions were with respect to the individuals protected by the protection order. Other examples of evidence that might be pertinent would include instrumentalities that might be used to harass, harm or threaten protected individuals. See deShazer v. State, 2003 WY 98, PP5-11, 74 P.3d 1240, 1243-44 (Wyo. 2003).

The dissent found the purported justifications for a search incident speculative:

[*P21] I do not disagree with the proposition that factors such as officer safety and the presence of evidence may justify the search of an arrested person’s vehicle. There simply was no showing in this case, at the suppression hearing, that those or similar factors existed. Article 1, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution forbids the search of a vehicle incident to the arrest of its driver unless such search is reasonable under all of the circumstances. The car search in this case, being purely a search incident to arrest, without justification under all the circumstances, was unlawful. The motion to suppress should have been granted, and the appellant should have been allowed to withdraw his guilty plea.