State v. Allensworth

HECHT, Justice.

We granted the State’s application for discretionary review of the district court’s order suppressing methamphetamine seized by law enforcement officers from a motor vehicle. We conclude the warrant-less search of the steering column of the vehicle was supported by probable cause, and was therefore permissible under the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s order.

I. Factual and Procedural Background.

A Polk County sheriffs deputy stopped a vehicle for speeding on Euclid Avenue in Des Moines. As the deputy…