Asking Passengers Out of Motor Vehicle

In this archive episode, Dennis explains some case laws and tactics to apply with passengers in vehicles. Recorded on 03/24/2018. State of NJ v. Brian L Smith 1994 https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/supreme-court/1994/a-28-93-opn.html?fbclid=IwAR3SIJrMktFLomB-0wZbeMlSfOKjQ7dGkagvy-QG0Vc1Vg92kn4WPtiRmDM (https://law.justia.com/.../supreme.../1994/a-28-93-opn.html) HELD: The State Trooper's order to the passenger, Geraldine Muhammad, to step out of the car stopped for a routine traffic violation, and the officer's pat-down of that passenger were reasonable, and hence, permissible under the Fourth Amendment of the Federal Constitution and Article I, Paragraph 7 of the New Jersey Constitution. Therefore, the trial court properly denied the motion to suppress the cocaine and drug paraphernalia found incident to arrest. 1. In determining whether Trooper Gacina's order to the passenger, Muhammad, to get out of the car was reasonable, the Court is guided by the seminal case, Pennsylvania v. Mimms. In Mimms, the U.S. Supreme Court balanced the driver's interest in privacy against the State's interest in protecting its police officers. The Court concluded that the State's interest in the safety of its officers far outweighed the driver's interest in not being made routinely to step out of a car after it has been stopped for a traffic violation. The Court held that the order to the driver to step out of the vehicle was reasonable and thus permissible under the Fourth Amendment. (pp. 8-10) 2. Mimms, as applied to drivers, satisfies the New Jersey Constitution. Here, the Court decides whether and under what conditions Mimms should be extended to passengers. The touchstone of the Court's analysis is the reasonableness, under all circumstances, of the particular governmental invasion of a citizen's personal security. (pp. 10-16) 3. Although the State's interest in safety remains the same whether the driver or the passenger is involved, requiring a passenger to step from the vehicle in the course of a routine traf