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W.D.N.Y.: Wandering around house to see what officers could see during execution of arrest warrant was unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Armed with an arrest warrant, officers lawfully entered defendant’s apartment to make an arrest since they had a reasonable belief he was present. Once inside, however, they roamed around to see what they could see, and this was not a valid plain view. “Since the government has not shown that the agents had a lawful reason to be in the living room or kitchen, where they allegedly observed the items which were subsequently seized, the search is illegal even if the items were in ‘plain view’ from those vantage points. ‘If the scope of the search exceeds that permitted by the … character of the relevant exception from the warrant requirement, the search is unconstitutional without more.’ Horton v. California, 496 U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 06, 2010 (boomark / email).