In re Arturo D.

• Decision Date: 24 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. S085213, No. S085218.
• Citation: 27 Cal.4th 60,38 P.3d 433,115 Cal.Rptr.2d 581
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: In re ARTURO D., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. The People, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Arturo D., Defendant and Appellant. The People, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Randall Ray Hinger, Defendant and Appellant.

115 Cal.Rptr.2d 581

27 Cal.4th 60

38 P.3d 433

In re ARTURO D., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

The People, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Arturo D., Defendant and Appellant.

The People, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Randall Ray Hinger, Defendant and Appellant.

Nos. S085213, S085218.

Supreme Court of California.

January 24, 2002.

Alex Green, under appointment by the Supreme Court, Berkeley, for Defendant and Appellant Arturo D.

Amanda F. Doerrer, under appointment by the Supreme Court, and Patrick Du-Nah, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, San Diego, for Defendant and Appellant Randall Ray Hinger.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, David P. Druliner, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Ronald A. Bass, Assistant Attorney General, Stan M. Helfman, Christopher W. Grove and Jeffrey M. Laurence, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent Arturo D.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, David P. Druliner, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Robert M. Foster, Laura Whitcomb Halgren and liana R. Butler, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent Randall Ray Hinger.

GEORGE, C.J.

We granted review in these matters to determine whether, when a driver who has been detained for citation for a Vehicle Code infraction fails to produce vehicle registration or personal identification documentation upon the request of the citing officer, the officer may conduct a warrantless search for such documentation, and, if so, the permissible scope of such a search. After briefing was complete, we consolidated these two matters for purposes of oral argument and opinion. We conclude that in these circumstances the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, permits limited warrantless searches of areas within a vehicle where such documentation reasonably may be expected to be found. Applying that standard, we conclude that the document searches in both cases were proper, and, accordingly, we reverse the judgment in In re Arturo D. (S085213), and affirm the judgment in People v. Hinger (S085218).

I.

A. In re Arturo D.

At approximately 11:30 p.m. on a weeknight in late August 1998, Suisun City Police Officer Rowe stopped minor Arturo D.'s extended cab truck, which had been traveling more than 70 miles per hour in a 50 mile-per-hour zone. Arturo was driving and was accompanied by two passengers, one of whom was stretched across the truck's rear pull-down seat. When asked for his identification, Arturo gave his name, date of birth, and a Vallejo address, but admitted that he lacked a valid driver's license and that the truck was not his. Arturo provided no documentary evidence as to his identity, proof of insurance, or vehicle registration. At that point, Officer Rowe planned to issue defendant a citation for speeding and for driving without a license. Rowe asked the occupants to exit from the truck, and they did so. From inside the front of the truck cab, Rowe then blindly felt with his hands under the driver's seat for documentation relating to the driver and the vehicle. Not encountering such documents, Rowe repositioned himself behind the driver's seat, bent down, and looked under the seat. Rowe found a glass smoking pipe located "towards the center" of the floor under the driver's seat. In the same location Rowe also found a blue box containing a white vial, which itself contained an unusable amount of white powder. Rowe asked whether the items belonged to Arturo, and he replied that they did.

Rowe issued a citation to Arturo for speeding and driving without a license, and because there was no licensed driver to drive away the truck, Rowe made arrangements to have the vehicle towed. (Veh. Code, §§ 12500, subd. (a), 14602.6, subd. (a), 22651, subd. (p).) Arturo went to the police station, planning to make a telephone call to arrange a ride home. At the police station Rowe examined the blue box more closely, discovering in an internal compartment a plastic bindle containing a usable quantity of a white powdery substance that, after testing, proved to be methamphetamine. Arturo then was placed under arrest. The district attorney subsequently filed a petition alleging that Arturo came within the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code section 602, in that he possessed methamphetamine (Health & Saf.Code, § 11377, subd. (a)) (count I) and an opium pipe (id., § 11364) (count II), and had driven without a license (Veh.Code, § 12500, subd. (a)) (count III).

At the jurisdictional hearing, the trial court denied Arturo's suppression motion and sustained the petition as to counts II and III.¹ Thereafter the court adjudged Arturo a ward of the court, and he appealed. In a published opinion, Division Four of the First District Court of Appeal reversed the order denying Arturo's motion to suppress the smoking pipe, reasoning that "the scope of the officer's intrusion went beyond that justified by the need to locate registration [and other identifying documents] and accordingly, it was unreasonable as a search for registration [and other identifying] documents."

B. People v. Hinger

In August 1997, while driving alone in his automobile, defendant Randall Hinger was stopped by Orange Police Officer Skinner for making unsafe lane changes. Hinger told Skinner that his name was "Randy Hinger" but that he did not have his driver's license with him, and that he had no documentation concerning the car he was driving. At some point during this process, Skinner noticed Hinger open the glove compartment of the vehicle. According to the officer, Hinger explained that he only recently had purchased the vehicle, or that he was in the process of purchasing it.

With Officer Skinner's permission, Hinger exited from the car. While Skinner used his radio to conduct a record check on Hinger's name and automobile, a backup officer arrived. While waiting for the requested record check, Skinner asked Hinger whether he could search the car. Hinger declined to consent. After Skinner informed Hinger that he would look for identification and registration notwithstanding Hinger's refusal, Hinger said he might have a wallet in the car after all, suggesting it could be in the glove compartment.

Officer Skinner noticed that the glove compartment that Hinger previously had opened was still ajar, exposing some loose papers. As Skinner later explained, "I wanted to find out who [defendant] was. I wanted to make sure that the name he gave me was his real name and make sure that the vehicle that he was driving either was in the process of belonging to him or was not stolen, or just to document who the vehicle belonged to." Skinner opened the front passenger door and lifted up the loose papers in the glove compartment, but found no identifying documents or wallet. Skinner then walked to the driver's side of the car, opened the door, and looked under the front seat for the wallet, finding nothing there. The officer walked back to the passenger side of the car and looked under the passenger seat (apparently doing so from the vantage point of the front of the seat). There Skinner saw and seized a wallet. Upon opening the wallet, he found inside a form of identification—a check-cashing card with Hinger's photograph on it—and a clear plastic baggie containing methamphetamine.

Hinger was arrested for possession of methamphetamine and pleaded guilty to that charge after the superior court denied his motion to suppress the foregoing evidence. In an unpublished opinion, Division Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment, finding that the officer's search for identifying documentation was reasonable under the circumstances and that the contraband found during the course of that search was admissible.

II.

Vehicle Code sections 4462 and 12951² long have required that the person in the immediate control of an automobile present evidence of registration and a driver's license upon proper command of a peace officer. Section 4462, subdivision (a), provides: "The driver of a motor vehicle shall present the registration or identification card or other evidence of registration of any or all vehicles under his or her immediate control for examination upon demand of any peace officer." Section 12951, subdivision (b), provides: "The driver of a motor vehicle shall present his or her license for examination upon demand of a peace officer enforcing the provisions of this code." The reason for these provisions is plain: An officer who has stopped a vehicle for a traffic infraction and who plans to issue a citation needs to ascertain the true identity of the driver and the owner of the vehicle, in order to include that information on the citation and the written promise to appear. (People v. McGaughran (1979) 25 Cal.3d 577, 584, fn. 5, 159 Cal.Rptr. 191, 601 P.2d 207 [registration and license "documents are ... the source of most of the information needed by the officer to complete the citation"].)³ But what action by the officer is permissible when, upon proper demand, a motorist who has been stopped for a traffic violation fails to produce the registration or license documentation required by statute?⁴

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits "unreasonable searches and seizures." Although it is well established that motorists have a cognizable privacy interest against unreasonable searches and seizures, the United States Supreme Court frequently has observed that, in light of the pervasive regulation of vehicles capable of traveling on the public highways, individuals generally have a reduced expectation of privacy while driving a vehicle on public thoroughfares. (E.g., New York v. Class (1986) 475 U.S. 106, 112-113, 106 S.Ct. 960, 89 L.Ed.2d 81 (Class) [upholding limited warrantless search of automobile to discover its vehicle identification number].) The threshold question posed in the two cases before ...