State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Lucio W. Patino and Guillermo Barriga, Defendants-Respondents

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the appellate court's suppression of cocaine seized from the defendants' automobile trunk, holding that the search was not justified as incident to arrest nor under the automobile exception. The Court also noted that the rule in Delaware v. Prouse is not retroactive. Justice Pashman concurred in the result but argued the Prouse rule should apply retroactively and that the shopping‑bag search was unlawful; Justice Schreiber dissented, contending the totality of circumstances justified the trunk search and that the convictions should be reinstated.