State v. Hawley, A-16-1057

Officer Nelson followed Hawley’s vehicle after noticing an out-of-county plate and a “suspicious glance,” then observed Hawley allegedly enter an intersection improperly, prompting a traffic stop.
During the stop Hawley took a phone call, told the caller he was going to jail for not having an interlock device, and then handed the officer a small bag of marijuana (6.7 grams).
Nelson handcuffed Hawley, reached into Hawley’s rear pocket, removed his wallet, and discovered a small baggie of Alprazolam behind Hawley’s ID; Nelson later confirmed the pills and arrested Hawley for possession of a controlled substance.
Police searched the vehicle and seized drug paraphernalia; Hawley’s girlfriend (vehicle owner) claimed a meth pipe found in the car.
Hawley moved to suppress the evidence obtained during the stop and search, arguing the stop was pretextual and the wallet search was unlawful; the district court denied suppression and convicted Hawley after a stipulated bench trial.

Issue	Hawley’s Argument	State’s Argument	Held
Validity of traffic stop	Stop was pretextual; officer followed him before any violation	Officer observed a traffic violation (improper entry causing evasive action); minor violations justify a stop	Stop valid; court credited officer’s testimony and found a traffic violation gave probable cause to stop
Lawfulness of wallet/person search	Search was a warrantless rummage not for officer safety or preservation of evidence	Marijuana handed to officer provided probable cause to arrest; search incident to arrest was contemporaneous and valid	Search valid as incident to arrest; marijuana provided independent justification for arrest before search
Contemporaneity of search and arrest	Search occurred before formal arrest, so invalid as incident to arrest	Search was reasonably contemporaneous with the arrest and justified by existing probable cause	Search permissible under contemporaneity doctrine (search incident to arrest allowed when probable cause existed before search)
Sufficiency re: prescription for Alprazolam	State failed to prove Hawley lacked a valid prescription	Statute presumes lack of authorization; burden to rebut rests with defendant	Conviction supported; defendant bears burden to show authorization for controlled substance possession

State v. Garcia, 281 Neb. 1 (review standard for suppression)
State v. Hudson, 279 Neb. 6 (sufficiency review standard for convictions)
State v. Lee, 265 Neb. 663 (minor traffic violation supports stop)
State v. Nolan, 283 Neb. 50 (officer motive irrelevant when violation occurred)
Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (pretextual stops constitutional if supported by probable cause)
State v. Perry, 292 Neb. 708 (odor/possession of marijuana can supply probable cause for arrest and search)
State v. Roberts, 261 Neb. 403 (search-incident-to-arrest exception)
State v. Weible, 211 Neb. 174 (scope of searches incident to arrest)
State v. Ortiz, 257 Neb. 784 (warrantless searches must be confined to exigencies)
Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98 (search contemporaneous with arrest may be valid even if preceding arrest)
State v. Twohig, 238 Neb. 92 (search before arrest valid if contemporaneous and probable cause existed before search)
Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318 (officer may arrest for minor offenses committed in presence)
State v. Sassen, 240 Neb. 773 (Nebraska law permits arrest for infractions)
State v. Minor, 188 Neb. 23 (burden of proof for exceptions/exemptions lies with defendant)