Inevitable Discovery
Police had a warrant to search an individual’s home and when they entered the bedroom, the person who was the subject of the warrant and the defendant in this case were present. Methamphetamine
was seen in the open and the defendant’s hands were on top of a purse that he had carried with him. The Court finds that the search of the purse was not authorized pursuant to the warrant but since the defendant was found in the proximity of drugs, the purse would have been seized incident to a lawful arrest and inevitably would have been searched. Therefore, the Court affirms a denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress. State v. Mendoza
Expectation of Privacy – Passenger in Vehicle
The Court finds that the defendant, a passenger in a motor vehicle, had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the back seat of the vehicle and therefore has no basis to challenge the search which led to the discovery of a firearm. State v. Rolland Anderson
Evading Arrest–Retreat into Home
The Court finds that an officer had a valid reason to stop the defendant’s vehicle based upon the defendant having little or no time to put on a seatbelt before driving, a visual observation of speeding and a third brake light that was out. Further, since the defendant was ordered to stop, but ignored the order and entered his home, the officer had a valid reason to detain the defendant
and arrest him after making observations of the defendant’s intoxication at the threshold of the home. Peterson v. Commissioner