WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is putting
limits on the ability of police to search vehicles when they do not have
a search warrant.
The court sided 8-1 Tuesday with a Virginia man who complained that police walked onto his driveway and pulled back a tarp covering his motorcycle, which turned out to be stolen.
They acted without a warrant, relying on a line of Supreme Court
cases generally allowing police to search a vehicle without a warrant.
The justices said the automobile exception does not always apply when searching vehicles parked adjacent to a home.
