Search Warrant Exceptions: (2) Probable Cause

The second search warrant exception is the probable cause exception. Typically, we think of probable cause as the standard of proof necessary for arrest, or issuance of a lawful warrant. However, the probable cause exception to the warrant requirement is a unique exception that applies to motor vehicles.

Under the probable cause exception police officers can search a motor vehicle without a warrant if the vehicle is mobile, or could easily be made mobile, and the police officer has probable cause to believe that contraband or other evidence of a crime is located within the vehicle. Here, the standard is the same: probable cause. If the police could get a warrant for the car, they don’t need to. While it seems contradictory, the rationale is rooted in the principle that there is a lesser expectation of privacy in a vehicle (than in a dwelling, for example). 

The probable cause exception is a go-to favorite for police officers looking to expand the scope of their traffic stops. Think about the odor of marijuana, for example. When a police officer walks up to a vehicle and smells marijuana, she has developed probable cause that the vehicle may contain marijuana. Now she has authority to conduct a warrantless search of the vehicle looking for marijuana.

The probable cause exception is a relatively broad exception to the search warrant requirement. However, I have recently seen officers and prosecutors try to stretch the boundaries by drawing on vague inferences about otherwise generic items inside vehicles as a means for establishing probable cause for a search.  If you or someone you know has been charged with a crime resulting from the search of a vehicle, it is important to have an experienced attorney review the evidence, and to challenge the lawfulness of any search if appropriate. Oftentimes, prevailing on a pre-trial challenge to the lawfulness of a search results in the suppression of evidence and dismissal of criminal charges.