Is a police officer's entry into a locked automobile trunk a "search" within the meaning of the Constitution?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Zonver, 132 Cal.App.3d Supp. 1, 183 Cal.Rptr. 214 (Cal. Super. 1982):

(11 Cal.App.3d at p. 791, 90 Cal.Rptr. 193.) It is, or should be, apparent that a police officer's entry into a locked automobile trunk is a "search" within the meaning of the Constitution regardless of what the officer believes he will find. (See People v. Hill (1974) 12 Cal.3d 731, 748, 117 Cal.Rptr. 393, 528 P.2d 1--an officer's observation of marijuana in the interior portion of a vehicle is not a search if the officer makes such observation from a vantage point outside of the vehicle; however, subsequent entry into the vehicle for the purpose of seizing the contraband held to constitute a search; see, also, People v. Gale (1973) 9 Cal.3d 788, 794-795, 108 Cal.Rptr. 852, 511 P.2d 1204:

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