STATE OF NEW JERSEY V. ALNESHA MINITEE AND
STATE OF NEW JERSEY V. DARNELL BLAND
A-5002-06T4/A-6213-06T4
08-16-10(consolidated)
In these back-to-back appeals concerning the warrantless
search of a motor vehicle, we harmonize the seemingly
inconsistent holdings in State v. Martin, 87 N.J. 561 (1981) and
State v. Pena-Flores, 198 N.J. 6 (2009), by finding that the
exigent circumstances that existed at the scene only permitted
the police to seize the vehicle. Under our State's
Constitution, once impounded, the police were required to obtain
a warrant before searching the vehicle.
We also construe the United States Supreme Court's opinion
in Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 51-52, 90 S. Ct. 1975,
1981, 26 L. Ed. 2d 419, 428 (1970), permitting warrantless
searches of vehicles impounded by the police, to constitute
binding authority only under the Fourth Amendment.
