Manhattan Massage Parlors: NJ court rules warrant is needed to search suspects’ vehicle in police custody
… Under the circumstances presented here, the warrantless search of the (vehicle) was unconstitutional,” the judges said in the 21-page published decision. “The vehicle was in police custody, and there was no danger that the evidence would be lost, compromised, or destroyed.”
The judges said the police should have obtained a search warrant while they had possession of the SUV and before searching it.
The judges said the evidence obtained from the red SUV, including classified advertising sections from several additions of The Star-Ledger that listed massage parlors, should have been suppressed and not used against Alnesha Minitee and Darnell Bland.
The pair, along with two others, were arrested in January 2003 in Fort Lee. Authorities said they attempted to flee an armed robbery of another massage parlor in Fort Lee.