California v. Charles Steven Acevedo

500 U.S. 565 · Decided May 30, 1991 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

California v. Charles Steven Acevedo was decided on May 30, 1991 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Harry A. Blackmun wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Search and seizure, vehicles” in the Criminal Procedure area. SCDB codes this decision as formally altering one or more of the Court's own precedents.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

California v. Charles Steven Acevedo

SCDB identifiers: case 1990-092, docket 1990-092-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Search and seizure, vehicles”

• Florida v. Luz Piedad Jimeno
  500 U.S. 248Decided May 23, 19917–2William H. Rehnquist
• Florida v. Bostick
  501 U.S. 429Decided June 20, 19916–3Sandra Day O'Connor
• Michigan Department of State Police v. Rick Sitz
  496 U.S. 444Decided June 14, 19906–3William H. Rehnquist
• Alabama v. Vanessa Rose White
  496 U.S. 325Decided June 11, 19906–3Byron R. White
• Florida v. Wells
  495 U.S. 1Decided April 18, 19909–0William H. Rehnquist
• United States v. Padilla
  508 U.S. 77Decided May 3, 19939–0Per curiam

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: Fourth Amendment

• California v. Hodari D.
  499 U.S. 621Decided April 23, 19917–2Antonin Scalia
• Illinois v. Rodriguez
  497 U.S. 177Decided June 21, 19906–3Antonin Scalia
• Terry Brice Horton v. California
  496 U.S. 128Decided June 4, 19907–2John Paul Stevens
• Minnesota v. Olson
  495 U.S. 91Decided April 18, 19907–2Byron R. White
• Smith v. Ohio
  494 U.S. 541Decided March 5, 19908–1Per curiam
• United States v. Rene Martin Verdugo-Urquidez
  494 U.S. 259Decided February 28, 19906–3William H. Rehnquist

Same Term, same area (Criminal Procedure)

• Robert Lee Shell v. Mississippi
  498 U.S. 1Decided October 29, 19908–0Per curiam
• Tommy Cage v. Louisiana
  498 U.S. 39Decided November 13, 19909–0Per curiam
• R. Dobie Langenkamp v. C. A. Culp
  498 U.S. 42Decided November 13, 19908–0Per curiam
• Raymond J. Moskal, Sr. v. United States
  498 U.S. 103Decided December 3, 19905–3Thurgood Marshall
• Robert S. Minnick v. Mississippi
  498 U.S. 146Decided December 3, 19906–2Anthony M. Kennedy
• Richard Demarest v. James
  498 U.S. 184Decided January 8, 19919–0William H. Rehnquist

See all

Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error