The People, Plaintiff and Appellant v. Bouhn Maikhio, Defendant and Respondent

Summary

The court held that California law authorizes a game warden to briefly stop a vehicle occupied by a person who is or has recently been fishing or hunting and demand display of the person’s catch, even without reasonable suspicion of a violation. The court further held that this suspicionless stop was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment because protecting wildlife is a special state interest, suspicion-based enforcement would be inadequate, and the privacy intrusion was limited. The court also held that the warden’s subsequent search of the vehicle and bag was supported by probable cause, and it reversed the judgment suppressing the evidence and dismissing the charges.