State v. Bauder

¶ 1. The question presented in this case is whether law-enforcement officers may routinely search a motor vehicle without a warrant, after its occupant has been arrested, handcuffed, and secured in the back seat of a police cruiser, absent a reasonable need to protect the officers’ safety or preserve evidence of a crime. We hold that such warrantless searches offend the core values underlying the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures embodied in Chapter I, Article 11 of the Vermont Constitution. Accordingly, the trial court judgment to the contrary is reversed.

¶ 2. During…