State v. Pagnani

by
The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed in part and vacated in part an order of the trial court suppressing evidence seized pursuant to a warrantless search of Defendant’s jacket and vehicle, holding that the search of Defendant’s jacket was a lawful search incident to arrest but that the search of Defendant’s vehicle was not supported by probable cause and was outside the scope of a vehicle search incident to arrest.The trial court concluded that the searches of Defendant’s jacket and vehicles and the seizure of the evidence was not supported by probable cause and violated Defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights. The State appealed, arguing that the search of Defendant’s jacket was a lawful search incident to her arrest and that the evidence discovered in the jacket supported the subsequent search for the illegal drugs discovered in Defendant’s vehicle. The Supreme Judicial Court agreed with respect to the search of Defendant’s jacket but vacated the suppression order as to the evidence found in the vehicle. View "State v. Pagnani" on Justia Law