AMA Amicus Brief

OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com

Yesterday, the American Motorcyclist Association filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in a little publicized motorcyclist’s rights case titled Ryan Austin Collins v. Commonwealth of Virginia. It is a Suzuki case which is one of the reasons readers here may not have heard of it. You may care about it anyway.

“On June 4, 2013, Officer Matthew McCall of the Albemarle County Police Department was patrolling on Route 29 near the border of Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville when he observed a traffic infraction by the operator of an orange and black motorcycle with an extended frame. Officer McCall activated his emergency lights and attempted to stop the motorcycle, but the motorcycle eluded him at a high rate of speed.”

Several weeks later the Suzuki outran David Rhodes, another Albemarle County cop. Rhodes eventually came to suspect that the speedy rider was Ryan Collins. Collins denied he had the Suzuki.

No Warrant

Eventually, Rhodes entered Collins’ property while Collins was gone without a warrant and found the speeding motorcycle under a motorcycle cover. When he looked at the VIN, Rhodes determined that the bike was stolen. When Collins returned, he denied having ridden the motorcycle. Rhodes then searched Collins and found the bike key in Collins pocket.

Collins argued that the warrantless search was illegal. Eventually, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled that, because Collins’ vehicle was a motorcycle and not a car or truck, the officer who searched under Collins’ motorcycle cover did not need a warrant to do so.”

In yesterday’s friend of the court brief, the AMA argued that the police should have a warrant before they can legally search a parked motorcycle. The brief argues that the “Court’s analysis should not be affected by the fact the vehicle searched was a motorcycle rather than a car or truck…. There is nothing inherently suspicious – and no inherent justification for a search – in the use or ownership of a motorcycle.”

In a press release issued today, AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman said that “motorcyclists’ rights can be threatened at all levels – and branches – of government.’

“The AMA and its members must be vigilant at all times, because we can never know where the next threat will be,” Dingman said. “The U.S. Supreme Court is the final arbiter on matters of Constitutional rights, and the Court’s decisions direct the enforcement of law across the country at all levels. When motorcyclists’ freedoms are before the Court, it’s critical that we speak forcefully and convincingly to defend those rights.”

Here is a dissenting opinion from the appellate court.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/va-supreme-court/1748177.html