United States v. Michael Allen Vasey

Michael Allen Vasey appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized from his vehicle by police officers after he was stopped for a routine traffic violation and arrested on an outstanding felony drug warrant. The police conducted a warrant-less search of the vehicle at the arrest site and a subsequent, more thorough search after impounding the vehicle and obtaining a search warrant. The district court initially found that both the warrantless and the warrant searches of the vehicle violated Vasey’s Fourth Amendment rights and granted the motion to suppress. Upon the government’s motion to reconsider, the district court reversed itself and found that the warrantless search was proper as a search incident to arrest and that the search warrant was valid so as to permit the subsequent search. Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea pursuant to Rule 11(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure whereby he preserved his right to appeal the denial of his suppression motion. This appeal resulted.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Vasey was driving a vehicle near Woo-dinville, Washington at approximately 9:27 a.m. He was observed speeding by King County Police Officer William…