Travis Dean Schaub v. The State of Wyoming, 2024 WY 100

Travis Dean Schaub was found unconscious or asleep in a truck parked on a public street in Mills, Wyoming, with syringes observed nearby.
Officer Thorp, responding to the report, observed Schaub displaying signs of intoxication: slurred speech, red/swollen eyes, and disorientation.
On being ordered out of his vehicle, Schaub denied consent to be searched but was searched anyway; methamphetamine was found in his pockets.
Schaub was then arrested, given Miranda warnings, and charged with felony possession of methamphetamine.
He moved to suppress the evidence, arguing the search of his person violated the Fourth Amendment, as it was not a valid search incident to arrest.
The district court denied the motion to suppress, finding that probable cause existed for arrest (public intoxication), and the search happened incident to lawful arrest.

Issue	Schaub's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the district court erred in denying the motion to suppress evidence discovered during a search of Schaub’s person	The search exceeded the scope of an investigatory stop and was not incident to a lawful arrest; he was not under formal arrest when searched	Thorp had probable cause to arrest for public intoxication and was in process of arrest; search was incident to lawful arrest	District court did not err; search was incident to a lawful arrest, so suppression was properly denied

Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752 (U.S. 1969) (establishes the scope of a search incident to arrest)
Rawlings v. Kentucky, 448 U.S. 98 (U.S. 1980) (search incident to arrest rule applies even if search precedes formal arrest)
Smith v. Ohio, 494 U.S. 541 (U.S. 1990) (probable cause for arrest must exist prior to search for it to be incident to arrest)