were current. The registration check on the license plates came back "no record on file," so

Trooper Kennedy went back to the van to check the vehicle identification number (VIN).



       When Trooper Kennedy returned to the van, he copied the VIN from the driver side

doorjamb. The VIN was also on the dashboard, but it was not visible through the windshield

because there was a magazine covering it. Trooper Kennedy did not return immediately to his patrol

car to check the VIN, but instead put his hands on the driver seat, leaned into the van, and asked Mr.

Miller, who was still in the passenger seat, where he and Mr. Hicks were going. Mr. Miller told

Trooper Kennedy he was traveling from Ventura, California, which is near Oxnard,                           4
possession of drug paraphernalia in violation of Kansas law and called for backup. Trooper Kennedy

also called the VIN into the dispatcher, but it is unclear whether he did so before or after he arrested

Mr. Hicks and Mr. Miller. After his backup arrived, Trooper Kennedy learned from the dispatcher

that the van was stolen. Mr. Miller, Mr. Hicks, and the van were then taken into custody and brought

to the sheriff's station. Trooper Kennedy later performed an inventory search of the van. Among

other things, he discovered marijuana, methamphetamine, a glass drug pipe, a loaded Smith &

Wesson nine-millimeter semi-automatic handgun, a loaded Multon .380 automatic