Ybarra V. Illinois Case Study

August 7, 1999, a car occupied by three men, Donte Partlow (driver and owner of vehicle) respondent Pringle (front seat passenger), and Otis Smith in the backseat, was stopped for speeding by a police officer. When the officer requested Partlow’s license and registration the defendant opened the glove compartment exposing a large amount of money, which turned out to be $763. The officer returned to his patrol car to run the license and found nothing, so he issued Partlow a verbal warning. Once the second officer arrived he requested to search the vehicle, which Partlow agreed too. The search exposed $763 in the glove compartment and five glassine Baggies of cocaine behind the backseat armrest. The officers questioned the men about who the owner
Illinois, Supra and United States v. Di Re, 332 U.S. 581 (1948). In Ybarra, police officers obtained a warrant to search a tavern and its bartender for evidence of possession of a controlled substance. Not only did the police search the tavern and the bartender but all the patrons that were present as well. This violated the search warrant and violated all the patrons’ constitutional rights. Ybarra was among the patrons searched and on him an officer found a cigarette pack with six tinfoil packets containing heroin. Pringle’s reliance on this case was misplaced because the three men were in a small-enclosed vehicle and not a tavern and no one was singled out to talk but all three men were asked together and all men refused to respond thus resulting in all three men being
The Court reasoned that "a reasonable officer could conclude that there was probable cause to believe that Pringle committed the crime of possession of cocaine."
Around 3:20 a.m., on August 7, 1999, a police officer of the Baltimore County Police Department stopped a vehicle for speeding and because the driver was not wearing a seat belt. See Pringle v. State, 805 A. 2d 1016, 1019 (Md. 2002); J. A. 4-5. The driver and owner of the vehicle was Donte Carlos Partlow, there were two others as passengers, Otis Calvin Smith was the back-seat passenger, and the defendant, Joseph Jermaine Pringle, was the front seat passenger. When Partlow opened the glove compartment to get his registration, the officer noticed that it contained a large roll of cash. He said nothing about this but went back to his patrol car to check Partlow's license and registration for outstanding violations. Finding none, the officer returned, and issued Partlow a verbal