United States v. Ross Essay

United States V. Ross   456 U.S. 798 (1982)   Facts:   On November 27, 1978, Washington, D.C. police detectives received a tip from a reliable informant describing a man known as “Bandit” who was selling illegal narcotics that were kept in the trunk of his car. The reliable informant gave the location of the car and description of both the car and driver. The District of Columbia police officers immediately drove to the location, found the parked car, and called for a computer check on the car, which confirmed that the owner matched the description and used the alias “Bandit”. Shortly thereafter the police observed the car being driven by a man who matched the informant’s description. They stopped the car and ordered the driver out. After noticing a bullet on the front seat, officers searched the glove compartment and found a pistol, at which point they arrested the driver, identified as Albert Ross. One of the officers opened the car’s trunk, found a closed brown paper bag, and after opening the bag, discovered glassine bags containing white powder, which were later determined to be heroin. During a later search at the police headquarters they also found a zippered red leather pouch in the trunk, which they opened and found $3,200.00 in cash. No warrant was obtained for these searches. Ross’ attorneys made a pretrial motion to suppress the evidence found in the bag and the pouch on the grounds that the warrantless search of the car does not extend to searching closed containers found within. Ross was subsequently convicted of possession of heroin with intent to distribute. The heroin and currency found in the searches having been introduced in evidence after Ross’ pretrial motion to suppress the evidence had been denied. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that, while the officers had probable cause to stop and search Ross’s car, including the trunk, without a warrant, they should not have opened either the paper bag or the leather...