Search & Seizure In The Context Of Automobiles

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warrant when there is probable cause to believe that contraband goods are in an automobile. Such things as automobiles and boats can quickly be moved away before an officer can secure a warrant. New Jersey Courts also recognize that an automobile exception is required because the need of a search warrant is often unforeseeable when an automobile is inherently mobile. Carroll v. United States, 267, U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 250, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925). The Courts seem to realize that if law enforcement officers were required to serve a warrant each time they believed that someone had something illegal in their automobile, prosecution of that person would become practically impossible. Once an individual has been stopped, and between the time of the stop and the time it takes to secure a warrant, it would be a matter of simply moving the vehicle away, or disposing of the contraband.
It should be noted that just because an automobile exception to the search warrant requirement exists, the ...

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a motor vehicle may seize contraband that he sees inside the vehicle. Most often, such plain view searches are followed by a search of the automobile. To be lawful, the search must be related to the circumstances. An object must fall within the officer's plain view, who must be rightfully in a position to have seen it. Thus, any objects which are found in plain view are subject to seizure. For example, in State v. Murray, 300 A.2d 1255 (App. Div. 1977) the Appellate Division held that the police were not justified in taking out the front seat of the vehicle in order to conduct a warrantless search of a compartment behind the front seat. The basis for this search was because the police ...

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