Brown v. Commonwealth, 270 Va. 414

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia held that an officer lacked probable cause to arrest and search Tavares Lamont Brown based on his possession of a partially burned hand-rolled cigarette and the surrounding circumstances. The court concluded that the cigarette could have had a legitimate use and that the additional circumstances did not establish probable cause. It reversed the Court of Appeals, vacated Brown's convictions for possession of cocaine and heroin, and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. An officer lacks probable cause to arrest a person based solely on observing a hand-rolled cigarette that is also capable of legitimate use; the observation must be combined with some additional circumstance indicating criminal activity. Under the totality of the circumstances, Officer Lambert lacked probable cause to arrest Brown.
2. Because Officer Lambert lacked probable cause to arrest Brown, the warrantless search and seizure were unconstitutional, and the trial court erred in denying Brown's motion to suppress.
3. The court would not consider the Commonwealth's alternative inevitable-discovery argument because it was not raised below.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the totality of the circumstances gave Officer Lambert probable cause to arrest Brown when the officer observed Brown holding a partially burned hand-rolled cigarette.
2. Whether the evidence obtained during the warrantless search should have been suppressed as the fruit of an unconstitutional search.
3. Whether the Commonwealth could invoke inevitable discovery when it raised that theory for the first time on appeal.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded