State v. Karson

Leben, J.:

David Karson’s pickup truck was searched in 2007 after a police officer arrested him on a warrant. At the time, pretty much all courts in the United States — and certainly those with jurisdiction over Kansas police officers — said it was legal to search the passenger compartment of a car any time one of its occupants was arrested. Drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in Karson’s truck, and he was convicted of drug charges.

But in 2009, the United States Supreme Court concluded that a vehicle could not be searched merely because an occupant had been arrested when, as was true in…