Must a Vehicle Be Located in a PVA to Be Searched Without a Warrant?

In State v. Parker, __ N.C. App. __, __ S.E.2d __, 2022 WL 4850255 (Oct. 4, 2022), the Court of Appeals considered the warrantless search of a vehicle that took place at a gas station. The court upheld the legality of the search based on probable cause that the vehicle contained evidence of drug activity. In the course of its opinion, the court stated that “the automobile exception [to the warrant requirement] . . . requires that the vehicle be in a public vehicular area.” Is that right? It’s an important question. An example illustrates why. Suppose that officers are investigating reports of illegal liquor manufacturing on a rural parcel of land. They enter the parcel without a warrant under the open fields doctrine. They find a van and peek in the window, seeing what they believe to be liquor jugs. If the automobile exception requires that the vehicle be in a public vehicular area, it doesn’t apply and the officers can’t search the van. If the automobile exception isn’t so limited, the officers can go ahead and search. In the remainder of this post, I’ll explain where I think the statement in Parker came from, why I don’t think it is quite accurate, and what effect it may have. Primer on the automobile exception. As a general rule, the police need a search warrant to search private property. There are many exceptions to the rule. One exception is that a motor vehicle may be searched without a warrant when the [...]