854 F.3d 197
2d Cir.2017Background
- NYPD Officer Aybar found Jose Diaz in a common stairwell of a private Bronx apartment building holding a red plastic cup near an open vodka bottle and smelled alcohol during a "Clean Halls" patrol.
- Aybar ordered Diaz to stand and produce ID; Diaz fumbled in pockets and adjusted his waistband.
- Fearing for safety, Aybar frisked/checked Diaz’s jacket pocket and discovered a loaded .380 Taurus handgun; she then arrested Diaz.
- Diaz was indicted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) for felon-in-possession; he moved to suppress the gun as the product of an unlawful search.
- District court denied suppression, finding probable cause for an open-container arrest and that the search was valid as incident to arrest; Diaz was convicted after a bench trial and appealed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Diaz) | Defendant's Argument (Gov't/Aybar) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Probable cause to arrest for open-container | Stairwell in private apartment building is not a "public place" under NYC Admin. Code §10-125, so no arrestable offense | Officer reasonably believed common-area stairwell was a public place; she smelled alcohol and saw cup/bottle | Probable cause existed — officer’s reasonable (even if mistaken) view of ambiguous law sufficed (Heien principle) |
| Validity of search as search-incident-to-arrest | Search was not incident to arrest because officer did not intend to arrest prior to searching; arrest resulted only after finding gun | Ricard doctrine: if officer had probable cause to arrest, a subsequent search contemporaneous with arrest is lawful even if officer initially intended only a citation | Search was lawful incident to arrest; Ricard remains good law after Knowles where the search occurred before any citation/termination of stop |
Key Cases Cited
- Heien v. North Carolina, 135 S. Ct. 530 (U.S. 2014) (officer’s reasonable mistake about ambiguous law can support Fourth Amendment stop/search)
- United States v. Ricard, 563 F.2d 45 (2d Cir. 1977) (search incident to arrest valid where officer had probable cause to arrest even if officer did not intend to arrest before searching)
- Knowles v. Iowa, 525 U.S. 113 (U.S. 1998) (search incident to arrest does not extend where officer has completed stop by issuing citation)
- Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (U.S. 2009) (interests justifying search-incident-to-arrest—officer safety and evidence preservation)
- Riley v. California, 134 S. Ct. 2473 (U.S. 2014) (search-incident-to-arrest is a specific exception to the warrant requirement)
- United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (U.S. 1973) (bright-line rule justifying full search incident to lawful custodial arrest)