MT: Probation “home visit” separate from a search

A home visit of a probationer is not a search, and a search cannot occur without cause. State v. Moody, 2006 MT 305, 334 Mont. 517, 148 P.3d 662 (November 28, 2006):

Since a home visit is not a search, a probation officer may not open drawers, cabinets, closets or the like; nor may the officer rummage through the probationer’s belongings. While a home visit has the potential to turn into a search pursuant to an officer’s plain view observations, it must remain within the parameters of a home visit unless or until there is reasonable cause to engage in a search.

Everybody fleeing from a Cadillac Escalade on the street amounted to an abandonment. During towing, the towing operator conducted an inventory and found contraband. State v. Branam, 2006 MT 300, 334 Mont. 457, 148 P.3d 635 (November 22, 2006).*

A temporary license tag is not cause for a stop, and that led to a drug dog coming and a search. State v. Johnson, 2006 ND 248, 724 N.W.2d 129 (November 28, 2006):

[*P10] There was no evidence here of erratic driving or speeding, nor did the temporary registration sticker stick out as unusual. Wolf stopped the vehicle because, in his experience, “many people drive on the sticker beyond the thirty days that’s allotted.” However, an officer’s belief “many people” violate the thirty-day temporary registration law is an over-generalization that does not give rise to reasonable suspicion that Johnson’s automobile was not lawfully registered. See United States v. Yousif, 308 F.3d 820, 828 (8th Cir. 2002) (“General profiles that fit large numbers of innocent people do not establish reasonable suspicion.”).

A faded and unreadable temporary tag can, however, justify a stop. State v. Oliver, 2006 ND 241, 724 N.W.2d 114 (November 28, 2006).