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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Ind. Decisions - Supreme Court declares search illegal in decision today
In Sergio Campos v. State of Indiana, a 13-page, 5-0 opinion, Justice Boehm writes:
This case involves a traffic stop resulting in a vehicle search that uncovered cocaine. We hold that there was no probable cause to conduct the search, so consent was required. Because the officer communicated to the occupants of the car that consent to search was “necessary,” the ensuing purported consent was invalid. The search therefore violated both the Indiana and Fed-eral Constitutions, and the seized cocaine may not be admitted in evidence.A second issue arises because the two occupants of the car were seated in a police cruiser while the search proceeded, and they made incriminating statements which were recorded on the cruiser’s video-tape of the stop. The recorded statements are admissible in evidence. Although the statements were an indirect product of an unlawful search, they were freely given and not the result of unlawful interrogation.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 30, 2008 03:11 PM
Posted to Ind. Sup.Ct. Decisions