Whitehead v. Commonwealth

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia held that a trained narcotics-detection dog's positive alert on a vehicle, followed by fruitless searches of the vehicle, the driver, and two passengers, did not establish probable cause particularized to the remaining passenger. The court reversed the Court of Appeals, concluding that the search of Travis Stacey Whitehead's person violated the Fourth Amendment. The court vacated the conviction-related judgment because the seized evidence should have been suppressed.

Holdings

1. A positive alert by a trained narcotics-detection dog on a vehicle, combined with fruitless searches of the vehicle, the driver, and two other passengers, does not establish probable cause particularized to the remaining passenger to search his person.
2. Because the officers lacked probable cause to arrest Whitehead, the search of his person could not be justified as a search incident to a custodial arrest and violated the Fourth Amendment.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a trained narcotics-detection dog's positive alert on a vehicle, followed by fruitless searches of the vehicle and the other occupants, supplied probable cause particularized to Whitehead to search his person or arrest him.
2. Whether the search of Whitehead's person violated the Fourth Amendment.

Disposition

reversed