Pubdate: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ) Copyright: 2007 Asbury Park Press Contact: http://www.app.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/26 Author: The Associated Press COPS NEED MORE THAN A 'HUNCH' TO SEARCH LAWFULLY STOPPED CAR Outlook For 2004 Case Dim NEWARK -- Police must have a reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing before asking for permission to search a disabled car, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 6-1 ruling by New Jersey's highest court extends protections against a warrantless search of a vehicle and its occupants in cases where the vehicle wasn't stopped by police. The decision means that marijuana and cocaine found by a state trooper under the hood of a car in 2004 cannot be used as evidence against its occupants, who were charged with drug trafficking. The case now returns to a trial judge, who had reached the same conclusions as the Supreme Court. An appellate panel of judges determined the evidence should be allowed. The Supreme Court decision broadens a 2002 ruling in which it found an officer cannot seek consent to search a lawfully stopped vehicle unless the officer has "a reasonable and articulable suspicion" that criminal activity is involved. The majority found that there was credible evidence to support a finding by the trial judge that no such suspicion existed. "The driver of a disabled car facing police officers whose offer of assistance quickly turns into a "fishing expedition' based on a "hunch' that criminal activity is afoot is subject to no less compulsion to accede to a consent search than the driver subject to a typical motor-vehicle stop," Justice Barry T. Albin wrote for the majority. The lone dissenter was Justice Robert A. Rivera-Soto, who objected to the decision based on how much weight he thought should be given to the trial judge's decision. No decision has yet been made on whether to drop the drug-trafficking charges, but the outlook for continuing the case is dim, said Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Marcia L. Silva. "Without the drugs that were seized from the vehicle, any other statements or facts that arose from that are clearly suppressed," Silva said. "It doesn't really leave me much with the case." Silva said the ruling was disappointing, asserting, "It inhibits the police even further." The decision was welcomed by the state Public Defender's Office, which handled the appeal for the six people charged in the case. "I think people should be glad that if they are (broken down), the police will try to help them, not sit around and try to figure out if they are drug dealers," Assistant Public Defender Mark H. Friedman said. The case began about 2:50 a.m. Sept. 17, 2004, when troopers came upon a Lincoln Town Car and Honda Accord on the shoulder of the New Jersey Turnpike in Edison. The Lincoln's gasoline tank had come loose. The cars carried six people who were returning to North Carolina from New York City. Two men were working on the tank, two people were sitting on a guardrail, and two were sleeping in the Honda. State Police Sgt. Ronald Klem and Trooper Sean O'Connor said several of the people appeared nervous. Klem wondered if drugs were hidden beneath the car. After individuals gave different reasons why they had been in New York, and because none of the six owned the cars, the troopers got consent to search from one person. After he balked at signing the form, O'Connor said they would wait until a drug-sniffing dog arrived. A half-hour later, the person signed the form. O'Connor found over a pound of cocaine and less than two ounces of marijuana in the Lincoln's engine compartment. The trooper also found $8,000 in cash on one person, and $3,000 on another. State Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa determined that the drugs and money stemmed from an unconstitutional search and could not be admitted as evidence. The search stemmed from "nothing more than a hunch." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman