CA9: Defendant’s abandonment of car caused by illegal search

The officer reached in and took the keys to defendant’s car without reasonable suspicion, and then he started searching it. The defendant then abandoned the car. The abandonment was caused by the illegal search, and suppression was properly granted. United States v. Biddle, 467 Fed. Appx. 693 (9th Cir. 2012) (unpublished):

A person retains some expectation of privacy in his car. See New York v. Class, 475 U.S. 106, 114 (1986). Neither the officer’s seizure of the keys or search of the glove compartment of an unoccupied vehicle can be justified as a stop under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968). The officers knew the car was registered to Biddle and was not stolen before they searched the glove compartment. The search cannot be justified as a search incident to arrest because Biddle was not arrested at that time. Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 129 S. Ct. 1710, 1721 (2009). Nor can the search be justified on the grounds of officer safety because Biddle was not identified and present during the search. Michigan v. Long, 436 U.S. 1032, 1049 (1983). These initial actions by the officers tainted any succeeding actions by Biddle, whether or not those succeeding actions constituted abandonment. United States v. Gilman, 684 F.2d 616, 620 (9th Cir. 1982). Moreover, these initial searches also tainted the towing of the car and subsequent search of the trunk under a community caretaking function rationale. See Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488 (1963).