A roadside search inside a woman’s underwear violated her constitutional rights.

In Porter v. State, during a stop for a headlight violation, police detected the odor of marijuana coming from Porter’s person. After a pat down search found nothing, the police reached inside Porter’s underwear and found marijuana.

The reasonableness of a search depends on the scope of the intrusion, the manner in which it was conducted, the justification for initiating it and the place in which it is conducted. The Court of Appeals concluded the search here was unreasonable. No evidence existed of any measures to protect Porter’s privacy or any law enforcement need to conduct the search on the side of a public road. Further, no concerns existed about officer safety or the destruction of evidence. The defendant’s conviction for possession of a marijuana was reversed.

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