Almeida-Sanchez v. United States

Decided June 21, 1973. Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-6278 · 413 U.S. 266 (1973) · Cited 1,282 times

Holding

The warrantless search of petitioner's automobile, made without probable cause or consent, violated the Fourth Amendment.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• United States v. Biswell · 406 U.S. 311 (1972)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Colonnade Catering Corp. v. United States · 397 U.S. 72 (1970)
• Chambers v. Maroney · 399 U.S. 42 (1970)
• Coolidge v. New Hampshire · 403 U.S. 443 (1971)
• Chimel v. California · 395 U.S. 752 (1969)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan · 407 U.S. 297 (1972)
• See v. City of Seattle · 387 U.S. 541 (1967)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel · 408 U.S. 753 (1972)
• Adams v. Williams · 407 U.S. 143 (1972)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Fong Yue Ting v. United States · 149 U.S. 698 (1893)
• The Japanese Immigrant Case · 189 U.S. 86 (1903)
• Dyke v. Taylor Implement Manufacturing Co. · 391 U.S. 216 (1968)
• Husty v. United States · 282 U.S. 694 (1931)
• Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. v. Stranahan · 214 U.S. 320 (1909)
• Lem Moon Sing v. United States · 158 U.S. 538 (1895)
• United States Ex Rel. Volpe v. Smith · 289 U.S. 422 (1933)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• United States v. Peltier · 422 U.S. 531 (1975)
• United States v. Ortiz · 422 U.S. 891 (1975)
• United States v. Martinez-Fuerte · 428 U.S. 543 (1976)
• Bowen v. United States · 422 U.S. 916 (1975)
• United States v. Johnson · 457 U.S. 537 (1982)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce · 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• United States v. Villamonte-Marquez · 462 U.S. 579 (1983)
• Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz · 496 U.S. 444 (1990)
• South Dakota v. Opperman · 428 U.S. 364 (1976)
• United States v. Ramsey · 431 U.S. 606 (1977)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• United States v. Watson · 423 U.S. 411 (1976)
• Michigan v. DeFillippo · 443 U.S. 31 (1979)
• Birchfield v. N. Dakota. William Robert Bernard · 579 U.S. 438 (2016)
• Cardwell v. Lewis · 417 U.S. 583 (1974)
• United States v. Montoya De Hernandez · 473 U.S. 531 (1985)
• Fiallo Ex Rel. Rodriguez v. Bell · 430 U.S. 787 (1977)
• United States v. Dieter · 429 U.S. 6 (1976)
• Delaware v. Prouse · 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
• Texas v. Brown · 460 U.S. 730 (1983)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Delgado · 466 U.S. 210 (1984)
• Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. · 436 U.S. 307 (1978)
• Illinois v. Krull · 480 U.S. 340 (1987)
• New York v. Burger · 482 U.S. 691 (1987)
• New York v. Class · 475 U.S. 106 (1986)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Rakas v. Illinois · 439 U.S. 128 (1978)
• United States v. Ross · 456 U.S. 798 (1982)
• United States v. Sharpe · 470 U.S. 675 (1985)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1973). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).