New Appellate Division Decision – Automobile Exception and Criminal Law 

On June 12, 2024, the New Jersey Appellate Division decided State of New Jersey v. Taviaus Wilson, James Hooks, and Sadale Loatman, 478 N.J. Super. 564 (App. Div. 2024), in which it addressed critical issues of first impression involving the application of the automobile exception to searches of a locked glovebox based of the odor of marijuana. 

Facts and Procedural History of the Automobile Exception Case 

In November 2018, a detective with the Bridgeton City Police Department stopped a vehicle, driven by driven by Taviaus Wilson, due to unlawfully tinted windows.  During the stop the detective detected a strong odor of marijuana. The detective ordered the defendant Wilson and the three passengers to exit the vehicle.  No marijuana was found during a search of the occupants. The detective, assisted by other officers who arrived at the scene, searched the front seat area, backseat, side door, and center console. The detective then instructed one of the officers to unlock the glove box with the car key that had been in the ignition switch. The search of the glove box immediately revealed three loaded handguns and a large capacity ammunition magazine.  

Initially, in 2019, the trial court denied the defendants’ motion to suppress the evidence found in the glove box. However, after the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Cohen, 254 N.J. 308, 312 (2023), which limited automobile exception searches based on marijuana odor, the trial court reversed its decision and suppressed the evidence, ruling that the search of the locked glove box without a warrant was unreasonable. 

The Appellate Division granted the State’s motion for leave to appeal. 

Legal Issue 1: Automobile Exception and Probable Cause 

On appeal, the first legal issue was “whether police are permitted to search a glove box based solely on the odor of marijuana emanating generally from the passenger compartment of a vehicle without first determining whether the odor is coming specifically from the vicinity of the glove box?” The Appellate Division ruled that the general odor of marijuana within the vehicle’s passenger compartment provided probable cause to search under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement. The appellate court reasoned that officers did not need to pinpoint the specific source of the smell and were justified in searching areas where contraband might be concealed, such as the glove box. 

Legal Issue 2: The Impact of a Locked Glove Box on the Automobile Exception 

The second legal issue concerned whether the locked status of the glove box created a heightened expectation of privacy in its contents that would require a warrant. The Appellate Division rejected this argument, finding that a locked glove box does not fall outside the scope of the automobile exception. The appellate court emphasized that, historically, locked vehicle compartments, such as trunks, have not been exempt from warrantless searches when probable cause exists. 

Conclusion: Holding and Key Takeaways on the Automobile Exception 

The New Jersey Appellate Division reversed the lower court’s decision to suppress the firearms found in the locked glove box. The Appellate Division concluded that the police were authorized under the automobile exception to search the glove box for marijuana and executed that search in a reasonable manner. Accordingly, the handguns that came into plain view when the glove box was opened were lawfully seized and should not have been suppressed.  The Appellate Division held that the general odor of marijuana provided probable cause to search the entire vehicle, including locked compartments, under the automobile exception.  

This decision reaffirms that locked containers do not fall outside automobile exception searches. The key takeaway is that under New Jersey law, probable cause based on marijuana odor justifies a broad search of a vehicle, including locked areas, without requiring a warrant. 

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