NCJ Number
122698
Date Published
1990
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Police may not use an arrest as a pretext to search for evidence. Instead, the search must be related in matter and purpose to the arrest itself.
Abstract
When an arrest on a traffic violation is used as a pretext to search for drug distribution and possession, evidence obtained from the search will be inadmissible if the suspect's consent to the search was involuntary. If the suspect voluntarily and without coercion agreed to the search, then it no longer matters that the arrest was pretextual. Factors affecting the voluntariness of consent are discussed in detail.