Facts
In the early morning hours of November 27, 2022, Officer Ryu Warnsley of the Hattiesburg Police Department (HPD) was doing a security check at the Luxury Inn on Highway 49 in Hattiesburg. The HPD had received numerous complaints about drug sales and prostitution at the Luxury Inn, so officers regularly inquired with the hotel’s clerk about any problems or suspicious circumstances. That night, the clerk told Warnsley that a white SUV had been parked in a handicapped space for about an hour and that there had been significant foot traffic coming to and from the vehicle. The clerk said that the vehicle’s occupants were not guests at the hotel, and she asked Warnsley to investigate and tell the vehicle’s occupants to leave the premises.
Warnsley approached the vehicle and found Maurice Johnson in the driver’s seat, a female in the front passenger seat, and a male in the backseat. Warnsley was familiar with Johnson and knew that he was a felon. Johnson told Warnsley the vehicle belonged to him. The vehicle was parked in a handicapped space but did not have a handicapped windshield placard or license plate. Warnsley asked Johnson to exit the vehicle for “officer safety reasons.” Warnsley then noticed a glass pipe commonly used to smoke narcotics in plain view in the driver’s door panel. A second officer observed suspected methamphetamine in plain view in the front passenger seat of the vehicle. From outside the vehicle, Warnsley could also see a “Bowie knife” between the driver’s seat and the center console. Johnson was arrested, given Miranda warnings, and stated that he was willing to talk. Johnson told Warnsley that he just bought the knife less than one hour earlier for $15 from a man at the Star Motel next door. Warnsley and other officers searched the rest of Johnson’s SUV and found a rifle in the rear cargo area underneath clothing. Johnson denied knowledge of the rifle and claimed that his female passenger must have put it there.
Johnson was indicted for two counts of possession of a weapon by a felon. Count I charged him with possessing a Gordon 8 bowie knife. Count II charged him with possessing a New England Firearms Handi Rifle SB2 .270 caliber rifle. The jury found Johnson guilty of both counts. The court sentenced Johnson to serve consecutive terms of ten years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. Johnson appealed, arguing the search and seizure was improper. MCOA affirmed.
Analysis
Warnsley was conducting a security check at the Luxury Inn because there had been numerous complaints of drug sales and prostitution at the hotel. The hotel clerk informed Warnsley that a white SUV had been parked in a handicapped space about an hour, that there had been significant foot traffic to and from the vehicle, and that the vehicle’s occupants were not guests at the hotel. When Warnsley approached the vehicle, he saw that it lacked a handicapped placard or plate, and he recognized Johnson as a felon. Collectively, this information was sufficient to give rise to a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity warranting a brief investigation, i.e., a Terry stop.
During a Terry stop, officers are authorized to take such steps as are reasonably necessary to protect their personal safety and to maintain the status quo during the course of the stop. See MCOA Wrenn. For example, to protect the officer’s own safety, he may require a vehicle’s occupants to exit the vehicle during the brief investigation incident to a Terry stop. Thus, for his own safety, Warnsley was authorized to direct Johnson, a felon, and the vehicle’s other occupants to exit the vehicle during the stop.
No warrant is required to seize an object in plain view when viewed by an officer from a place he has the lawful right to be, its incriminating character is readily apparent and the officer has a lawful right of access to the evidence. See MSC Johnson. In addition, under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement police may conduct a warrantless search of an automobile and any containers therein if they have probable cause to believe that it contains contraband or evidence of a crime. See MSC Roche (There is an exception to the warrant requirement in the context of vehicle searches. When probable cause justifies the search of vehicle which police have lawfully stopped, it justifies the search of every part of the vehicle and its contents that may conceal the object of the search.) Once officers observe illegal narcotics inside a vehicle in plain view, the officers have probable cause to search the vehicle. See MSC Walker.
Here, during the course and within the scope of a valid Terry stop, officers observed suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in plain view in Johnson’s vehicle. Thus, pursuant to the automobile exception, the officers had probable cause to search every part of the vehicle without a warrant. Accordingly, Johnson’s challenge to the search and seizure of the evidence against him is without merit.