People v. Bailey

At issue is whether the automobile search in each of these two consolidated appeals was a valid search incident to arrest pursuant to New York v. Belton (1981), 453 U.S. 454, 69 L. Ed. 2d 768, 101 S. Ct. 2860. We uphold the search in each case.

BACKGROUND

In cause No. 75994, a Downers Grove police officer stopped an automobile driven by defendant, Brian Bailey, containing four additional passengers. The officer stopped the car because it did not have a front license plate. Prior to stopping defendant, the officer did not observe any other criminal behavior and had no reason to believe that…