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LA5: Plain view when defendant opened door in response to policeman's knock: plain view supported seizure even if warrant was bad

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

"The reliability of the informant's tip did not need to be established before the officers knocked on the door [with their search warrant]. Once the door was opened and the officers were inside, Detective Zemlik observed contraband in plain view." State v. Johnson, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 1153 (La. App. 5 Cir. August 19, 2008).* Officer was talking with defendant who was a bystander to an investigation in a house and asked defendant's name, getting a false name. Under Oregon law, it was not a crime to give a false name because the defendant was under investigation for nothing at the time, but that led to finding a warrant on the defendant. The question of independent basis for the search incident to that arrest was not determined below, so the case is remanded...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 25, 2008 (boomark / email).