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DC: Defendant was still a "recent occupant" although car was locked and he was handcuffed, based on facts

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was a "recent occupant" of his car, although it was locked and he was handcuffed, when he was arrested standing outside it where it was reasonable to believe that there was contraband in the car from the blunt he dropped. Dawkins v. United States, 2010 D.C. App. LEXIS 12 (January 21, 2010): Under the D.C. Circuit Court's reasoning in Mapp and Booker, appellant was a "recent occupant," pursuant to Thornton's test of "temporal or spatial relationship to the car at the time of the arrest and search." 541 U.S. at 622. Appellant was leaning against his vehicle when the police approached and arrested him. The undercover officer saw appellant open the car door, briefly lean inside, close the door, and resume leaning against the car. The police searched appellant's car immediately after the arrest -- which had happened within "a matter of feet" of the car -- whereupon appellant exclaimed, "Why are you guys going to go in my car?" A sufficiently proximate relationship existed between appellant and his car so as to establish that he was a "recent occupant" at the time he was arrested...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 26, 2010 (boomark / email).