Virginia v. Moore

Police arrested Moore (defendant) after a radio report that he was driving with a suspended license, even though state law generally treated that offense as a citation-only violation rather than an arrestable one; the search incident to that arrest turned up illegal drugs. Moore moved to suppress, arguing the search violated the Fourth Amendment because the underlying arrest itself violated state law, even though state law didn't require suppression for state-law arrest violations. After conflicting rulings in Virginia's courts, the state supreme court held the search violated the Fourth Amendment and reversed Moore's conviction; the state petitioned for Supreme Court review.