Edwards v. State
| Citation | 759 N.E.2d 626 |
| Decision Date | 18 December 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 09S02-0112-CR-649.,09S02-0112-CR-649. |
| Parties | Michael S. EDWARDS, Appellant (Defendant Below), v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee (Plaintiff Below). |
| Court | Supreme Court of Indiana |
Jay T. Hirschauer, Cass County Public Defender, Logansport, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Joseph A. Samreta, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
ON PETITION TO TRANSFER
We hold that routine, warrantless strip searches of misdemeanor arrestees, even when incident to lawful arrests, are impermissible under the Indiana Constitution and the United States Constitution, and that before jail officials may conduct warrantless strip searches of misdemeanor arrestees detained awaiting the posting of bond, those officials must have a reasonable suspicion that the arrestee is concealing weapons or contraband.
On January 29, 2000, Logansport police officers Fred Rogers and Robert Smith stopped a maroon station wagon that was being driven approximately ten miles per hour over the speed limit on a snow-covered road. Smith approached the driver, Lawrence Walker, and Rogers approached the passenger, Michael Edwards. Smith asked Walker for identification, and Walker produced a learner's permit with his own picture but bearing the name Michael Edwards. Edwards in the meantime told Rogers that his name was Michael Edwards and offered a pay stub with that name.
When the officers returned to their squad car to issue a speeding citation, they realized that both men had given them the same name and the same date of birth. The officers confronted the two men, patted them down, and handcuffed them. Edwards apologized for lying, explained that the pay stub belonged to the driver, and identified himself first as Nigel Smith, then as Michael Smith. He also gave the officers a second date of birth, and told them again that the driver's name was Michael Edwards.
Because neither man had a valid driver's license, and because the officers could not verify the identity of either, the officers decided to transport both to the Logansport police station. A search of the station wagon, which was to be impounded, revealed no weapons or contraband. Walker was subsequently arrested for forgery based on presenting the false learner's permit. He was taken to the Cass County jail, and when he removed his left boot in the book-in procedure, a small plastic bag containing .14 grams of crack cocaine was discovered. A search of the squad car used to transport Walker to the jail revealed twenty-four individually wrapped pieces of rock cocaine totaling 3.10 grams.
While Walker was being transported to the jail, Rogers and Detective Michael Clark continued to interview Edwards at the police station. At some point during that interview, Rogers placed Edwards under arrest, but the record is silent as to the reason for the arrest. Edwards then offered to take the officers to his house to get his birth certificate and prove his identity. Clark agreed, as long as Edwards would allow officers to search his home. Edwards relented, and three officers and a police canine conducted the search. The birth certificate was recovered, but no other contraband was found. Edwards, still under arrest, was then transported to the Cass County jail.
Jail correctional officer Jerry Denny, who had been present when the cocaine was discovered in Walker's boot, conducted a strip search of Edwards. A plastic bag containing seven rocks of crack cocaine weighing 1.12 grams was discovered between Edwards' buttocks, and Edwards was charged with possession of cocaine as a Class A felony. Edwards filed a motion to suppress the cocaine, arguing that the police had neither probable cause to arrest him nor a valid search warrant, so the jailhouse strip search was unconstitutional. The trial court denied the motion after a hearing. Edwards then moved to set aside the order denying his motion, and also filed a motion to dismiss the charges because of insufficient evidence. The trial court denied both motions and, at Edwards' request, certified an interlocutory appeal. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court and this Court granted transfer.
Both the trial court and the Court of Appeals characterized the strip search of Edwards as a search incident to a lawful arrest. We agree that the police had probable cause to arrest Edwards and did so lawfully.1 We also agree that a police officer may conduct a warrantless search of a person if the search is incident to a lawful arrest. See Townsend v. State, 460 N.E.2d 139, 141 (Ind.1984). In such situations, the search and the arrest must be "substantially contemporaneous," and the search must be confined to the immediate vicinity of the arrest. Id. The requirement of a contemporaneous search has been interpreted liberally, however, and this Court has validated searches that do not occur until the arrestee arrives at a law enforcement facility, as long as the items searched are "found on the person of an arrestee" or are "immediately associated with his person." Chambers v. State, 422 N.E.2d 1198, 1203 (Ind.1981). Thus, the trial court and the Court of Appeals correctly concluded that the strip search of Edwards could be evaluated as one incident to a lawful arrest.
Both our cases and those of the federal courts place limits on searches incident to an arrest. The United States Supreme Court has held that once a lawful arrest has been made, authorities may conduct a "full search" of the arrestee for weapons or concealed evidence. United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 235, 94 S.Ct. 467, 38 L.Ed.2d 427 (1973). No additional probable cause for the search is required, and the search incident to arrest may "`involve a relatively extensive exploration of the person.'" Id. at 227, 94 S.Ct. 467 (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 25, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968)). Nonetheless, such a search would be unreasonable, and therefore a violation of the Fourth Amendment standard, if it were "extreme or patently abusive." Id. at 236, 94 S.Ct. 467. In this case, Edwards was strip-searched when he was processed into the Cass County jail several hours after his arrest. At that point Edwards had not been charged with any criminal activity, and the possible charges he faced were all for nonviolent misdemeanor offenses. We do not believe that routine, warrantless strip searches of misdemeanor arrestees, even when incident to lawful arrests, are reasonable as both Article I, Section 11 of our state constituti...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Nieves
... ... at 763, 89 S.Ct. at 2040, 23 L.Ed.2d at 694 ; see also United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800, 802-03, 94 S.Ct. 1234, 1237, 39 L.Ed.2d 771, 775 (1974) ; United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 226, 94 S.Ct. 467, 472, 38 861 A.2d 69 L.Ed.2d 427, 435 (1973); Carter, 367 Md. at 460, 788 A.2d at 653 ... Likewise, in United States v. Robinson, 414 ... ...
-
Ward v. State, 74S00-0707-DP-263.
...generally prohibited unless an exception exists. One recognized exception is for searches incident to a lawful arrest. Edwards v. State, 759 N.E.2d 626, 629 (Ind.2001). Moreover, a full search of the person after arrest "is not only an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amen......
-
Litchfield v. State
... ... This explicitly added to the calculus the factor of the severity of the law enforcement need in addition to the degree of the intrusion. However, the degree of intrusion may render a search unreasonable, even where law enforcement needs are obviously present. In Edwards v. State, 759 N.E.2d 626, 630 (Ind.2001), we focused entirely on the degree of intrusion on the citizen and lack of individualized suspicion: "to the extent a warrantless strip search of 824 N.E.2d 361 a misdemeanor arrestee is conducted on the basis of jail security, the indignity and personal ... ...
-
State v. Crager
...to arrest may "involve a relatively extensive exploration of the person." ’ " Garcia , 47 N.E.3d at 1200 (quoting Edwards v. State , 759 N.E.2d 626, 629 (Ind. 2001) (citing Robinson , 414 U.S. at 227, 235, 94 S.Ct. 467 ) (internal quotation and citation omitted) ). The record reveals that S......