State v. Gefroh

Summary

The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed an order suppressing cocaine found in Kevin James Gefroh’s pocket during a traffic stop. The court held that the automobile exception supported a warrantless search of the vehicle after a drug-sniffing dog alerted, but did not justify the warrantless search of Gefroh’s person.

Holdings

1. The automobile exception to the warrant requirement permits a warrantless search of a vehicle when probable cause exists that the vehicle contains contraband, but it does not authorize a warrantless search of a person's body or clothing merely because the person was present in or driving the vehicle when probable cause arose.
2. The State abandoned and did not preserve for appellate review the issue whether the search of Gefroh's pocket exceeded the permissible scope of a pat-down search.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement permitted officers who had probable cause to search Gefroh's vehicle to conduct a warrantless search of Gefroh's person and pockets.
2. Whether the State preserved for appellate review its challenge to the district court's ruling that the pocket search exceeded the permissible scope of a weapons pat-down.

Disposition

affirmed