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Going to bathroom conditioned on consent to search was invalid

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

During a traffic stop, the defendant passenger asked to go to the bathroom. The officer conditioned going to the bathroom on consenting to a search. The consent was invalid. State v. Haynes, 2008 Ore. App. LEXIS 990 (July 16, 2008). Smell of burnt marijuana coming from a car during a traffic stop did not justify a search of every person in the car, applying the Washington Constitution. State v. Grande, 2008 Wash. LEXIS 749 (July 17, 2008): Our cases have strongly and rightfully protected our constitution's protection of individual privacy. The protections of article I, section 7 do not fade away or disappear within the confines of an automobile. Parker, 139 Wn.2d at 505. We have always been careful to balance an individual's privacy concerns with the safety concerns and law enforcement duties of police officers...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 21, 2008 (boomark / email).