Maryland v. Pringle - Opinion Announcement

Argument of Chief Justice Rehnquist

Mr. Rehnquist: I have the opinion of the Court to announce in No. 02-809, Maryland against Pringle.

The respondent, Pringle was a front seat passenger in a Nissan Maxima stopped for speeding Northwest of Baltimore about 3 O’clock a.m. by a police officer.

There were two other occupants, the driver and the back seat passenger.

The officer, upon searching the car, seized $763 of rolled up cash from the glove compartment and five glassed in baggys of cocaine from between the back sit arm rest and the back seat.

After all three men denied ownership of the cocaine and money the officer arrested each of them.

A few hours later, Pringle confessed the ownership of the drug.

The Court of Appeals of Maryland by a divided vote reversed Pringle’s conviction concluding that Pringle’s confession should have been suppressed as the fruits of an illegal arrest because the officer did not have probable cause to make a warrantless arrest to them.

We granted certiorari and we now reverse the judgment of the Maryland Court of Appeals.

A warrantless arrest of an individual in a public place for a felony or a misdemeanor committed in the officer’s presence is consistent with the Fourth Amendment if the arrest is supported by probable cause.

It is uncontested in the present case that the officer, upon recovering the five plastic glassine baggies containing suspected cocaine, had probable cause to believe a felony had been committed.

The sole question is whether the officer had probable cause to believe that Pringle committed that crime.

The probable cause standard is incapable of precise definition or quantification in the percentages because it deals with probabilities and depends on the totality of the circumstances.

However, the substance of all the definitions of probable cause is a reasonable ground for belief and guilt.

To determine whether an officer had probable cause to arrest an individual, we examine the events leading up to the arrest and then decide whether these historical facts viewed from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable police officer amount to probable cause.

In this case, Pringle was one of three men riding a car in the early morning hours.

There was $763 of rolled up cash in the glove compartment directly in front of him.

Five plastic glassine baggies of cocaine were behind the back seat arm rest and accessible to all three men.

Upon questioning, the three men failed to offer any information with respect to the ownership of the cocaine or the money.

We think it is an entirely reasonable inference from these facts that any or all of the three occupants had knowledge of and exercised dominion and control over the cocaine.

Thus, a reasonable officer could conclude that there as probable cause to believe Pringle committed the crime of possession of cocaine either solely or jointly.

Pringle’s arrest therefore did not contravene the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.

So, the judgment of the Court of Appeals of Maryland is reversed, the case remanded for proceeding not inconsistent with this opinion.

The opinion of the Court is unanimous.