New York v. Belton Case Brief

New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 2860 (1981)

FACTS: Belton was a passenger in an automobile driven by another individual. The vehicle was stopped for speeding. In the course of the officer’s questioning of the occupants, he discovered that none of the occupants owned the car, or was related to the owner of the car. During this time, the officer smelled burned marijuana and spotted an envelope on the floorboard. The officer suspected that the envelope contained marijuana.

The officer ordered all of the occupants out of the car, and arrested all of them for possession of marijuana. After searching each individual, the officer searched the passenger compartment of the car. He found a jacket, a jacket belonging to Belton. He unzipped a pocket and found cocaine. Belton maintained that the search of the jacket was unreasonable

ISSUE: Was the search of the jacket lawful?

HOLDING: Yes

DISCUSSION: Incident to arrest, it is lawful to search the person and the immediate area. When a policeman has made a lawful arrest of the occupant of an automobile, he may, as a contemporaneous incident of that arrest, search the passenger compartment of that automobile. The police may also examine the contents of any containers found within the passenger compartment, for if the passenger compartment is within reach of the arrestee, so also will containers in it be within his reach.