Question:
Police officers arrived at Grant’s home to investigate a tip that Grant’s residence was being used to sell drugs. At the time, Grant was not at home, but he did arrive home in his car while police were questioning a man and woman parked in front of the house about possession of drug paraphernalia. He parked at the end of the driveway, got out of his car, and shut the door. One of the police officers, who was some 30 feet away, called to Grant, who responded by going to the patrol car. The police officer immediately arrested Grant, handcuffed him, and locked him in the back seat of the police car. The police officer then went back and searched Grant’s car, which, of course, was 30 feet away. The search revealed a gun and a bag of cocaine in the pocket of a jacket on the backseat. Grant was charged with possession of a narcotic drug for sale and paraphernalia (i. e., the plastic bag in which the cocaine was found). Grant moved to suppress the evidence seized in the car on the grounds that the warrantless search violated his Fourth Amendment rights— more specifically that the police had no right to search the car since it was not within reaching distance at the time of his arrest. Was Grant correct?