The Fourth Appellate District reversed a judgment of conviction and remanded. The court held that the parole status of a passenger in a car did not give a sheriff’s deputy the authority to search the car’s entire passenger compartment.
Douglas Schmitz was driving with three passengers in his car when he turned into an alley to make a u-turn. A deputy sheriff pulled up next to him to inquire if he was lost. When Schmitz answered “no,” the deputy pulled her car in front of Schmitz’s and parked. She then walked over to his car to ask him more questions. Because the deputy was talking to him, Schmitz did not immediately drive away.
