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E.D.Tenn.: Arrest two blocks from car did not permit SI of car

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant arrested two blocks from his car was not a "recent occupant" under Thornton. United States v. Mathis, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78710 (E.D. Tenn. April 16, 2009) (case was decided five days before Gant): In this instance, Defendant was arrested approximately two blocks away from the Vehicle. The arrest took place approximately five minutes after Defendant had left the Vehicle, and the officers returned Defendant to the Vehicle shortly after arresting him. The Court finds that while Defendant's temporal relationship with the Vehicle was appropriate under Thornton, his spatial relationship to the Vehicle was simply too great. Given the distance between Defendant and his Vehicle at the time of Defendant's arrest, the Court cannot find that a search of the Vehicle was appropriate under either a theory of officer safety or a concern for the preservation of evidence, the two bases for Thornton...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 06, 2009 (boomark / email).