Cert. granted: Is a stop of a vehicle a seizure of the passengers, too?

The Supreme Court Friday granted cert in Brendlin v. California, 06-8120, per SCOTUSBlog: “if police stop a car along the highway, does that result in detention of the passengers in the vehicle, for Fourth Amendment purposes, thus allowing them to contest the legality of the original stop. A divided California Supreme Court ruled that a Fourth Amendment violation resulting from an illegal traffic stop may be challenged only by the driver, not any passenger, since the passenger has not been ‘seized.'”

The California Supreme Court decision is People v. Brendlin, 38 Cal. 4th 1107, 45 Cal. Rptr. 3d 50, 136 P.3d 845 (June 29, 2006). Lexis Overview: “Because a deputy effected a traffic stop without any indication that defendant, the passenger, was the subject of his investigation or show of authority, defendant was not seized for Fourth Amendment purposes when the driver submitted to the deputy’s authority and stopped the vehicle; thus, defendant was not entitled to suppress evidence of drugs.” [The free link to the California Supreme Court opinion is now dead.]

Prediction and comment: Unless the Supreme Court parts with 90% of the existing state and federal authorities, this case will be reversed. A stop of a car is a seizure of the occupants. They may not having standing to challenge a search of the car they were riding in, but what happens when they are searched themselves as a result of an unlawful stop?