State v. Dean

HURWITZ, Justice.

¶ 1 We granted review in this case to address a recurring Fourth Amendment issue — whether the search of an automobile is “incident” to the arrest of a defendant. In this case, the search occurred after the defendant was arrested in a house, some two and one-half hours after he had exited the vehicle. The superior court held that the search violated the Fourth Amendment; the court of appeals reversed. For the reasons below, we hold that the superior court correctly found that the search in this case did not fall within the “search incident to arrest” exception to the Fourth…