State v. Alston

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

CLIFFORD, J.

*216This appeal presents us with the task of clarifying the scope of the “automobile exception” to the Fourth Amendment requirement that searches be conducted pursuant to a warrant based on probable cause. More particularly, the question to be resolved is whether the primary rationale for this exception— the inherent mobility of an automobile stopped on an open highway — dissipates once the vehicle’s occupants are arrested and removed from the car. The trial court and Appellate Division read this Court’s decision in State v. Ercolano, 79 N.J.…