Campbell '93 and Green '88 Argue and Win in U.S. Supreme Court
A Fourth Amendment case decided by the United States Supreme Court was argued and won by alumni Elizabeth Campbell '93 of the Central California Appellate Program and Jeffrey Green '88 of Sidley Austin in Washington, D.C. The court ruled unanimously that a passenger, as well as a driver has the right to challenge the legality of a police officer's decision to stop a car.
According to a New York Times article, the ruling came in the case of Bruce E. Brendlin, who was a passenger in a car that was stopped by a deputy sheriff in Yuba City, California, on Nov. 27, 2001. The deputy soon ascertained that Brendlin was an ex-convict who was wanted for violating his parole. An ensuing search of the driver, the car, and Brendlin turned up methamphetamine supplies.
Eventually, Brendlin pleaded guilty to a drug charge and drew a four-year prison sentence. But he continued to appeal on the issue of whether the evidence of drugs found on him resulted from an illegal search and should have been suppressed because of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
The California Supreme Court found that, consitutionally speaking, only the driver had been "seized" by the stop, and that therefore Brendlin had no basis for challenging the search that turned up the drugs. The State of California made that argument again when the case was heard before the United States Supreme Court on April 23, 2007.
Brendlin’s lawyer, Campbell, successfully argued that when an officer makes a traffic stop, "he seizes not only the driver of the car, but also the car, and every person and every thing in that car."
Opinion/June 18, 2007
New York Times/June 19, 2007
According to a New York Times article, the ruling came in the case of Bruce E. Brendlin, who was a passenger in a car that was stopped by a deputy sheriff in Yuba City, California, on Nov. 27, 2001. The deputy soon ascertained that Brendlin was an ex-convict who was wanted for violating his parole. An ensuing search of the driver, the car, and Brendlin turned up methamphetamine supplies.
Eventually, Brendlin pleaded guilty to a drug charge and drew a four-year prison sentence. But he continued to appeal on the issue of whether the evidence of drugs found on him resulted from an illegal search and should have been suppressed because of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
The California Supreme Court found that, consitutionally speaking, only the driver had been "seized" by the stop, and that therefore Brendlin had no basis for challenging the search that turned up the drugs. The State of California made that argument again when the case was heard before the United States Supreme Court on April 23, 2007.
Brendlin’s lawyer, Campbell, successfully argued that when an officer makes a traffic stop, "he seizes not only the driver of the car, but also the car, and every person and every thing in that car."
Opinion/June 18, 2007
New York Times/June 19, 2007