Kansas drivers can breathe a collective sigh of relief after a recent Kansas Supreme Court ruling which requires police officers to have more justification than just the smell of alcohol to search a vehicle. This ruling makes an important statement about what the Court considers probable cause. While it may take the police a while to abide by the Court’s ruling, drivers should be aware of it so that they do not consent to an illegal search of their vehicle upon the mistaken belief that the search is legal.
In 2008, Robert Stevenson was stopped by officers in Sedgwick County for a minor traffic violation involving a turn signal. The officers who stopped Stevenson were looking for a reason to pull him over because they suspected that he was involved in drug activity. The turn signal violation was therefore merely a pretext for the vehicle stop.
When Stevenson rolled down his window, the officers smelled alcohol. The officers then asked Stevenson to participate in a field sobriety test, which he passed. When one officer looked in the window of Stevenson’s vehicle, there was nothing within view that would justify a search. There were also no warrants out for Stevenson’s arrest. The officers were intent on searching Stevenson’s vehicle, so they claimed that the strong smell of alcohol gave them probable cause to conduct the search. Unfortunately for Mr. Stevenson, the officers found drugs in his vehicle. He received a conviction for the charges associated with the drugs which were discovered in his vehicle. Stevenson’s attorney appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court on the grounds that the search was illegal.
The Kansas Supreme Court agrees with Stevenson’s attorney. In its ruling, the Court says that the smell of alcohol, without more, is not enough to support a finding of probable cause. The reason that additional evidence must be available to support a finding of probable cause is that alcohol is a legal substance. Police officers may not legally search a vehicle without probable cause, and many cases that involve vehicle searches turn on whether or not officers had probable cause to search a vehicle.
This ruling makes sense, because there are other reasons besides drunk driving that could cause a person or a vehicle to smell like alcohol. For example, if you and your spouse attend a friend’s wedding and someone accidentally spills their drink on you, you may smell like alcohol until you get home and change your clothes. Likewise, bins or bags of returnable bottles in the back seat or trunk can sometimes smell like alcohol if the bottles or cans were not thoroughly rinsed out before you packed them up for recycling. If beer or wine from those bottles or cans gets on the upholstery, the smell of alcohol may stay in your car even after the bottles and cans have been dropped off at the recycling center. In Stevenson’s case, the alcohol smell was coming from a half-full bottle of wine which had been sealed for transport but had leaked onto the floor.
If you have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, it is essential that you seek the assistance of an experienced Kansas DUI defense attorney. Whether your case involves an illegal vehicle search, violations of your rights, or some other wrongdoing by law enforcement, we are here to help you. To learn more about how a knowledgeable Kansas DUI Defense Attorney can improve your chances of successfully defending your DUI case, please call our Wichita office today at (316) 264-1548.
