United States v. Reaves

Reaves was suspected of dealing heroin. From an informant, Peoria police learned that Reaves drove to Detroit in a white Chrysler Pacifica to get his heroin supply. Police confirmed that Reaves owned a white Chrysler Pacifica. The informant picked Reaves out of a line-up. Police set up four controlled buys between the informant and Reaves, then obtained a warrant to place a GPS tracker on Reaves’s Pacifica. While the Pacifica was returning from Detroit on I- 74, Officer Leach observed it illegally drift into a different lane without signaling and pulled the car over. Reaves’s girlfriend, Seekins, was driving. Reaves was a passenger. After asking Seekins whether she had been drinking, Leach asked if he could search the vehicle. Both Reaves and Seekins consented. Seekins, driving on a suspended driver’s license, was arrested. At no time did they withdraw consent or limit the search. The police informed Reaves that the vehicle would be towed, impounded, and subjected to an inventory search. Reaves accepted a ride to a gas station. Officers continued searching. They removed a suspicious side panel and discovered 170 grams of heroin and $6,000 in cash. Reaves was charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin, 21 U.S.C. 841. The Seventh Circuit affirmed denial of Reaves’s motion to suppress. Although the impoundment and inventory search were invalid, the police had probable cause to pull over the Pacifica for a traffic violation and Reaves’s consent validated the search. View "United States v. Reaves" on Justia Law