Carroll Doctrine: Under Carroll Doctrine, a vehicle search may be conducted when?

• A. Only at the moment of the stop
• B. After impounding and moving for storage and search
• C. Only with a warrant
• D. Never, unless consent is given

Answer: (B)

The key idea is the automobile exception to the warrant requirement: a vehicle can be searched without a warrant if police have probable cause to believe it contains contraband or evidence, because a vehicle’s mobility makes it impractical to obtain a warrant before the evidence might be lost or moved.

Under Carroll, that probable-cause search can occur even after the car has been impounded and moved to storage, since the vehicle’s movable nature continues to present a risk that evidence could disappear if a warrant were needed first. So a warrantless search is permissible when there’s probable cause and the car could be moved or has been moved for storage.

This differs from saying you must search only at the moment of the stop, or that a warrant is always required, or that you can never search without consent.