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TX: Officers serving a SW are not precluded from investigating further when they think they found stolen property, limiting 1987 case

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers on the premises with a search warrant who see things that they determine before they leave are criminal evidence are legally able to seize that evidence. Any further investigation into the nature of those items did not entail an additional and unjustified search of, or unduly prolonged police presence on, the premises, the seizure of those items, and it was permissible under the Fourth Amendment. White v. State, 729 S.W.2d 737 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987) is disapproved. State v. Dobbs, 2010 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1338 (October 20, 2010), revg State v. Dobbs, 2009 Tex. App. LEXIS 1857 (Tex. App.--Dallas March 18, 2009) (unpublished): The further investigation that the officers undertook in this cause did not involve any search of the premises that was not already authorized by the search warrant...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 25, 2010 (boomark / email).