The People v. Graham Reid, 24 N.Y.3d 615

Officer Merino stopped defendant for driving erratically and observed signs of intoxication; defendant claimed to have had a beer after work at 4:00 p.m., despite the encounter occurring at 5:00 a.m.
Merino conducted a pat-down; a switchblade knife was found in defendant’s pocket, and defendant was arrested for weapon possession.
Defendant moved to suppress the knife; the Appellate Division affirmed the denial of suppression, treating the pat-down as incident to arrest because probable cause for DWI existed.
The Court granted leave to appeal to address whether the search could be justified as incident to an arrest when the arrest would not have occurred but for the search.
The majority held that the search was not incident to a valid arrest because, but for the search, there would have been no arrest.
Dissent argued that Knowles v. Iowa is not controlling and urged preservation of the Appellate Division’s decision.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a pat-down can be incident to arrest if the arrest would not have occurred but for the search	Merino would arrest for DWI without the knife if the search had not occurred	Arrest could still be valid based on probable cause; the search is incident to arrest when warrant exceptions apply	Not held; search not incident to arrest because arrest would not have occurred but for the search
Is Knowles controlling for determining incident-to-arrest in this context	Knowles supports treating the search as incident to arrest when probable cause exists	Knowles is distinguishable; issuance of a citation does not implicate incident-to-arrest doctrine here	Knowles not controlling; the facts fall outside its bright-line rule
Did the majority correctly apply Fourth Amendment doctrine to suppress the knife and dismiss the indictment	Appellate Division's reasoning should stand given contours of incident-to-arrest	The knife search was justified by probable cause and timing of events	Yes; suppression granted and indictment dismissed

Knowles v. Iowa, 525 U.S. 113 (1998) (search incident to arrest requires actual arrest; citation not enough)
Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98 (1980) (arrest soon after search can render search and arrest one event)
People v. Evans, 43 N.Y.2d 160 (1977) (timing of search/arrest as one event)
Devenpeck v. Alford, 543 U.S. 146 (2004) (arrest based on probable cause of a different offense does not defeat pursuit of valid arrest)
United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (1973) (search incident to arrest doctrine; officer safety and evidence preservation)
Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996) (stop valid when supported by probable cause irrespective of motive)
Riley v. California, 134 S. Ct. 2473 (2014) (limits Knowles and extends concerns about officer safety and evidence)