Idaho v. Green
Annotate this CaseIn October 2012, an Ada County Sheriff’s officer stopped a vehicle for failing to maintain its lane. The officer identified the driver as defendant Alesha Green, and it was subsequently discovered that Green was driving with an invalid driver’s license, which Green admitted to knowing. The officer testified at Green’s preliminary hearing that he had no reason to believe Green was someone other than who she identified herself to be, nor did the officer have reason to believe Green would not appear for court. Although driving without a valid license in violation of Idaho Code section 49-301 was a misdemeanor offense, it was not an arrestable offense unless certain conditions are met. Those conditions were not met here. Nonetheless, the officer arrested Green. The resulting search of Green’s person produced alleged drugs and drug paraphernalia. Additionally, a large amount of cash was discovered during the search of Green’s vehicle. Once transported to the Ada County Jail, Green made incriminating statements and gave consent to search her hotel room, where police found a digital scale and small plastic bags. Green was charged with a number of drug-related offenses under two different case numbers. The State appealed the district court’s order granting a motion to suppress evidence. The Supreme Court reversed: "[a]s stated at the outset, we recently reiterated that in order for the Idaho Constitution’s interpretation to deviate from the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, there must be clear precedent to that effect or circumstances unique to the state of Idaho or its Constitution that would compel such a result. [. . .] Although Green cites several Idaho cases, arguing that long-standing Idaho jurisprudence establishes that suppression is appropriate where there has been a statutory violation that impacts one’s constitutional rights, an examination of those cases reveals that Green’s position is without merit. Whether or not discussed by the Court in its respective decisions, each statute directly at issue in 'Rauch,' 'Mathews,' and 'Card' has a historical, pre-constitution source of the currently codified principles. Therefore, suppression in each of those cases was justified by a direct violation of principles inherent in the Idaho Constitution. There is no historical counterpart to Idaho Code section 49-1407 that was present at the time the Idaho Constitution was adopted. Therefore, it cannot be said that the principles in that section limiting certain warrantless misdemeanor arrests to specific circumstances are constitutional in nature. Likewise, a violation of that statute is not a constitutional violation. Because there was no pre-constitution counterpart to Section 49-1407, a violation of this section is merely statutory in nature. And, because there was no constitutional violation in this case, suppression was inappropriate."
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