The case brought to the court concerned the extent of the Court's earlier decision in New York v. Belton, concerning whether a person was in custody, a determination central to allowing evidence seized in an automobile search to be presented in trial.

[1] In reversing, an intermediate appellate court found the search valid under New York v. Belton.

In Belton, the U.S. Supreme Court established a "bright-line" rule permitting an officer who has made a lawful custodial arrest of a car's occupant to search the car's passenger compartment as an incident of the arrest.

[1] In reversing the intermediate court of appeals, the Florida Supreme Court held Belton did not apply because it is limited to situations where the officer initiates contact with a vehicle's occupant while that person remains in the vehicle.

[3] In a unanimous opinion authored by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the Court dismissed the writ of certiorari for want of jurisdiction.