The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent reversal of its own six-year-old decision requiring exigent circumstances in roadside vehicle searches has left many in the criminal defense bar questioning the basis for the justices’ change of heart.
In a 5-2 ruling in State v. Witt, the court found that the standard it set in the 2009 case State v. Pena-Flores is unworkable and has led to a situation where too many motorists who were stopped along the state’s roads were being asked by police to sign forms consenting to a search of their vehicles. In the Sept. 24 ruling in Witt, the court reverted to a standard set in 1981, which allows the warrantless search of a vehicle when police have probable cause to believe it contains contraband or evidence of a crime and where circumstances giving rise to probable cause are unforeseeable and spontaneous.
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