State v. Knowles

Decision Date22 October 1997
Docket NumberNo. 96-1584,96-1584
Citation569 N.W.2d 601
PartiesSTATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Patrick KNOWLES, Appellant.
CourtIowa Supreme Court

Maria Ruhtenberg of Paul Rosenberg & Associates, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Robert P. Ewald, Assistant Attorney General, Steve Johnson, County Attorney, and James

Cleverley, Jr., Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

Considered en banc.

CARTER, Judge.

Defendant, Patrick Knowles, was convicted of possession of a Schedule I controlled substance (marijuana) in violation of Iowa Code section 124.401(3) (1995) and keeping a controlled substance in an automobile in violation of Iowa Code section 124.402(1)(e). He appeals and challenges evidentiary rulings that allowed evidence of marijuana that had been obtained by a search of his person and automobile incident to the issuance of a traffic citation. Defendant divides his grounds for reversal into four contentions: (1) the lack of probable cause to search under the Fourth Amendment to the federal constitution, (2) the invalidity of a purported statutory grant of authority to search based on the issuance of a traffic citation, (3) the invalidity of a purported authorization for custodial arrest for a speeding violation under the seizure restrictions of the Fourth Amendment to the federal constitution, and (4) that it was unreasonable to detain the defendant after the issuance of the citation had been completed. Because we find the controlling issues of law have been determined adversely to defendant in State v. Doran, 563 N.W.2d 620 (Iowa 1997), we affirm the judgment of the district court.

We need not consider defendant's first contention as existing separate and distinct from the second. The State does not contend that there was probable cause to search under the warrant standards of the Fourth Amendment. Defendant was stopped by police for driving at an excessive speed. There were no circumstances indicating that evidence of crime existed on his person or in his automobile. The officer's election to search his person and his car was based solely on the perceived authority to search conferred by Iowa Code section 805.1(4). We thus proceed to the consideration of defendant's contention that this statute is unconstitutional.

We have consistently interpreted section 805.1(4) as providing authority to search when a traffic violation has occurred that would constitute grounds for an arrest. State v. Meyer, 543 N.W.2d 876, 879 (Iowa 1996); State v. Becker, 458 N.W.2d 604, 607 (Iowa 1990). Defendant does not contest the fact that he was speeding or that there was a statutory basis for arrest. See Iowa Code section 805.7. In Doran we upheld the authority to search conferred by section 805.1(4) in the face of challenges based on the Fourth Amendment and article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution.

Defendant urges us to reconsider our Doran holding. He asserts that, because the "search incident to an arrest" exception to the Fourth Amendment is the only constitutional predicate on which the State seeks to support the authority to search his person and automobile, there must have in fact been a custodial arrest to satisfy the limitations on searches imposed by the Fourth Amendment. He urges that our holding in Doran that the constitutional basis for the "search incident to an arrest" exception is satisfied by the presence of grounds for arrest rather than the making of a custodial arrest is misguided. We disagree. The suggestion that the constitutional basis for the "search incident to an arrest" exception is an actual arrest is belied by those decisions that hold that the timing of the arrest need not precede the search. See State v. Peterson, 515 N.W.2d 23, 25 (Iowa 1994); State v. Beatty, 305 N.W.2d 496, 498 (Iowa 1981). And, when the search produces an independent ground for an arrest on a more serious charge, the foregoing of an arrest for the traffic violation does not defeat the authority to search. See People v. Rossi, 102 Ill.App.3d 1069, 1073, 58 Ill.Dec. 291, 430 N.E.2d 233, 236 (1981).

We are satisfied that our decision in Doran properly identified the public policy reasons that support the "search...

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8 cases
  • State v. Pallone
    • United States
    • Wisconsin Supreme Court
    • June 30, 2000
    ...to the Fourth Amendment when the arresting officer has probable cause to arrest the driver. Id. at 115-16 (citing State v. Knowles, 569 N.W.2d 601, 620 (Iowa 1997), rev'd, 525 U.S. 113 ¶ 39. In a unanimous decision written by Chief Justice Rehnquist, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that......
  • State v. Funkhouser
    • United States
    • Court of Special Appeals of Maryland
    • September 27, 2001
    ...arrest. 525 U.S. at 114, 119 S.Ct. 484 (emphasis supplied). The Supreme Court of Iowa took the position urged by the State before us. 569 N.W.2d 601 (1997). It affirmed the legitimacy of the warrantless search, "reasoning that so long as the arresting officer had probable cause to make a cu......
  • State v. Earl
    • United States
    • Arkansas Supreme Court
    • June 11, 1998
    ...See U.S. v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 94 S.Ct. 467 (1973). The officer's actions need no other justification. Id.; accord State v. Knowles, 569 N.W.2d 601 (Iowa 1997), cert. granted, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 1298, 140 L.Ed.2d 465 (1998) (interpreting Iowa Code section 805.1(4) as providing au......
  • McDaniel v. State, CA
    • United States
    • Arkansas Court of Appeals
    • January 27, 1999
    ...119 S.Ct. 484, 142 L.Ed.2d 492 (1998), and the decision of our supreme court in Scisney v. State, 270 Ark. 610, 605 S.W.2d 451 (1980). In Knowles, the Supreme Court invalidated a warrantless search of a car after a police officer stopped a motorist and issued a speeding citation. In Scisney......
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