Bruce Edward Brendlin v. California (551 U.S. 249)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 18, 2007 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 551 U.S. 249 · 127 S. Ct. 2400
- Decided
- June 18, 2007
- Term
- October Term 2006
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Souter
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. When a police officer makes a traffic stop, the driver of the car is seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The question in this ease is whether the same is true of a passenger. We hold that a passenger is seized as well and so may challenge the constitutionality of the stop. I Early in the morning of November 27, 2001, Deputy Sheriff Robert Brokenbrough and his partner saw a parked Buick with expired registration tags. In his ensuing conversation with the police dispatcher, Brokenbrough learned that an application for renewal of registration was being processed. The officers saw the car again on the road, and this time Brokenbrough noticed its display of a temporary operating permit with the number “11,” indicating it was legal to drive the car through November. App. 115. The officers decided to pull the Buick over to verify that the permit matched the vehicle, even though, as Brokenbrough admitted later, there was nothing unusual about the permit or the way it was affixed. Brokenbrough asked the driver, Karen Simeroth, for her license and saw a passenger in the front seat, petitioner Bruce Brendlin, whom he recognized as “one of the Brendlin brothers.” Id., at 65. He recalled that either Scott or Bruce Brendlin had dropped out of parole supervision and asked Brendlin to identify himself. Brokenbrough returned to…
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