Ewing

Shawn Lewis Ewing was charged in the United States District Court for the Central District of California with counterfeiting currency and possessing with the intent to use counterfeit currency, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 471 and 474. Mr. Ewing filed a motion to suppress evidence against him. He contended that the arresting officer’s examination of folded bills, partially concealed in the weatherstripping of the car in which he was a passenger, violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment. The district court denied the motion; it held that the officer had probable cause to remove and examine the bills. Mr. Ewing subsequently entered a plea of guilty conditional on the resolution of his appeal of the motion to suppress.

We affirm the judgment of the district court. The evidence establishes that the officer had probable cause to search the car and to examine suspected contraband within it. The officer identified several interrelated factors that, under the totality of the circumstances, created a fair probability that a search of the car would yield evidence of a crime. Moreover, because the bills fell within the parameters of the justification for the search, Mr. Ewing…