State v. Elders

In State v. Carty, 170 N.J. 632, 635, 790 A.2d 903, modified on other grounds, 174 N.J. 351, 806 A.2d 798 (2002), we held that a police officer may not ask for consent to search a lawfully stopped vehicle or its occupants unless the officer has “a reasonable and articulable suspicion” that the occupants are engaged in criminal wrongdoing. A consent search of a validly stopped ear without the requisite suspicion will result in exclusion of the evidence at trial. Id. at 647 — 18, 790 A.2d 903. In this appeal, we must decide whether the principles of Carty extend to the occupants of a ear…