Collins v. Virginia:  Supreme Court Directs Traffic at the Intersection of the Automobile Exception and Searches of the Home

An officer sees a motorcycle that he has probable cause to believe is stolen parked in the suspect’s driveway. The motorcycle is partially covered by a tarpaulin. May the officer lawfully walk into the driveway without the permission of the suspect or any other resident and lift the tarp to read the license plate and VIN number on the motorcycle? No, he may not.  The United States Supreme Court held yesterday in Collins v. Virginia, 584 U.S. ___ (2018) that such a search violates the Fourth Amendment.     More facts. Two officers working alone on two separate occasions attempted to stop the driver of a distinctive orange and black motorcycle for traffic violations. On both occasions, the driver eluded the officers. The officers conferred, investigated and determined that the motorcycle was likely stolen and in the possession of Ryan Collins. They found photographs on Collins’ Facebook profile of an orange and black motorcycle parked at the top of a driveway of a house. They tracked down the address of the house, which was rented by Collins’ girlfriend, and where Collins stayed a few nights each week. One of the officers went to the house and saw the motorcycle parked in a partially enclosed area at the top of the driveway, where it was covered with a white tarpaulin. The area where the motorcycle was parked was enclosed on two sides with a brick wall about the height of a car and on a third side by the house. The officer [...]