SCOTUS decision in Arizona v. Gant (2009) affected the admissibility in federal prosecutions of evidence obtained by local, federal and local law enforcement agencies as the result of the search of an automobile incident to the lawful arrest. The Gant decision was not a winning situation for law enforcement. The Gant decision should have taken into consideration the arrestees and their immediate area of control for weapons, and to allow officers to prevent the destruction of evidence by the suspect. The United States Supreme Court arguably placed a limit on the ability of law enforcement officers to search of an vehicle incident to the arrest of the driver or an occupant. It curtailed the practices under New York v. Belton (1981) by removing
