§ 17.07 Extending Terry: Weapons Searches of Automobiles

• Jurisdiction: North Carolina

§ 17.07 Extending Terry: Weapons Searches of Automobiles

A person may lawfully be frisked under certain circumstances, but what about cars? The Supreme Court ruled in Michigan v. Long¹¹⁸ that, in some circumstances, the police may conduct a weapons search — a "frisk"¹¹⁹ — of the passenger compartment of a lawfully stopped automobile.

In Long, police officers in a rural region of Michigan, at night, observed L drive his car erratically, at an excessive rate of speed, and swerve into a ditch. The officers stopped to investigate. As they did, L got out of his car and, leaving the door open, met the police at the rear of the automobile. L appeared to be intoxicated.

The officers requested L's vehicle registration. After repeated requests, and no response, L began to walk toward the open door of the car. The officers followed him and observed a hunting knife on the floor of the driver's side of the car. At that point, the officers frisked L, but they felt no weapon. The officers then shone a light inside the car to look for other weapons. They noticed something, although they could not identify it, protruding from under the armrest on the front seat. One officer entered the car, lifted the armrest, and found an open pouch containing marijuana. L was arrested for possession of the contraband.

The Court upheld the car search for weapons. It observed that investigative detentions of persons in cars "are especially fraught with danger to police officers," and that the passenger compartment of a car is within the immediate control of a suspect. Therefore, it reasoned, if a weapon is inside a car, it represents a risk to the police. Although this reasoning might suggest that the police may conduct a weapons search of the passenger compartment of any automobile they lawfully stop, Long's holding is narrower than this. The Court stated that "the search of the passenger compartment of an automobile, limited to those areas in which a weapon may be placed or hidden, is permissible if the police officer possesses a reasonable belief . . . that the suspect is dangerous and the suspect may gain immediate control of weapons."

In Long, the Court noted specific, articulable facts that, in its view, justified the officers in entering the car to search for weapons. These facts included: (1) it was late at night; (2) the area was rural; (3) L appeared to be intoxicated; (4) the officers had already observed a hunting knife in the vehicle; and (5) L intended to re-enter the...