State v. Harris

The state appeals an order granting a motion to suppress evidence seized from the defendant’s vehicle during a search incident to arrest. Although the search was unlawful, the trial court erred as a matter of law by granting the motion, because the police officers had relied in good faith on well-settled case law when they conducted the search.

The police officers had the defendant under surveillance for suspected drug activity, but they stopped her vehicle because they knew she was driving with a suspended license. After the officers had handcuffed the defendant and secured her in a patrol…