State v. Cleverly

Defendant was charged with possession of methamphetamine after the vehicle in which he was a passenger was detained for a traffic stop and a law enforcement officer conducted searches of Defendant and his effects, including a cigarette package in which methamphetamine was found. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the evidence was obtained during an unlawful warrantless search. The district court denied the motion. The Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that the final search of the cigarette package was consensual and sufficiently attenuated from an earlier unlawful pat-down of Defendant. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) under the totality of the circumstances of this case, the nature of Defendant’s unlawful seizure rendered his consent to the search of the cigarette package involuntary and, therefore, invalid; and (2) therefore, the district court erred in refusing to suppress the evidence seized from the cigarette package. View "State v. Cleverly" on Justia Law