State v. Webb

¶1 Article I, section 7 of the state constitution prohibits warrantless searches of vehicles incident to arrest where the suspect is not physically proximate to the vehicle at the time of arrest.1 Because the State fails in its burden to prove that Chaun Webb was physically proximate to the passenger compartment of his vehicle at the time of his arrest for driving under the influence (DUI), the items that the police seized in that search must be suppressed. We reverse.

¶2 Kent Police Officer John Shipman pulled over Webb on suspicion of DUI. Webb stopped his car in the right traffic lane of a…