Search and seizure – Search incident to arrest

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Where police officers (1) arrested the defendant, (2) took a bag he had dropped and placed it in the back seat of the vehicle toward which he had been walking prior to arrest, (3) took the defendant to the station, (4) brought the vehicle to the police station and (5) between 30 minutes and 60 minutes later, during an inventory search of the vehicle, found a firearm in the bag the defendant had dropped, we hold that the firearm was not discovered in a search incident to arrest and therefore should have been suppressed at the defendant's criminal trial.

"There is little doubt that had the police searched the defendant's bag when he was arrested, it would have been a lawful search incident to arrest. The case law interpreting the Fourth Amendment demonstrates, however, that the contemporaneity requirement continues to have meaning. Accordingly, this case, where the search did not occur at the time or at the place of arrest, has surely crossed that line. … To hold otherwise would exceed the bounds of established law concerning the search incident to arrest exception to the warrant requirement.

"Judgments reversed."

Commonwealth v. Pierre (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-162-08) (12 pages) (Rapoza, C.J.) (Appeals Court) Pretrial suppression motion heard by Lauranzano, J.; cases heard by Brennan, J., in the District Court. Lisa M. Kavanaugh for the defendant; Kenneth Bresler for the commonwealth (Docket No. 06-P-1329) (Sept. 12, 2008).