In the Matter of H.L.S., Alleged Delinquent Child

Summary

The Supreme Court of South Dakota held that law enforcement lacked probable cause to warrantlessly arrest H.L.S., a seventeen-year-old found in an apartment where marijuana was discovered. Because the record did not establish that she knew of the marijuana's presence and character, the court reversed the denial of her motion to suppress the urine sample obtained after the arrest.

Holdings

1. The officers lacked probable cause to arrest H.L.S. because the record did not contain particularized facts showing that she knew of the presence and character of the marijuana or intentionally and consciously possessed it.
2. Because H.L.S.'s warrantless arrest was unsupported by probable cause, the urine sample obtained as a search incident to that arrest was not lawfully obtained and the denial of the suppression motion must be reversed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether officers had probable cause under the Fourth Amendment and SDCL 23A-3-2(2) to arrest H.L.S. without a warrant based only on her presence in the apartment and proximity to marijuana found there.
2. Whether the urine sample obtained as a search incident to that arrest should have been suppressed.

Disposition

reversed