Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

FL5: Theft is an offense for which a SI under Gant can occur

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant’s arrest for theft justified a search incident because that was crime for which evidence could be found. Brown v. State, 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 19763 (5th DCA December 18, 2009): Our conclusion on this issue finds ample support in the concurring opinion of Justice Scalia in Thornton. In discussing the "evidence gathering" justification for a search incident to arrest, he observed that a "motorist may be arrested for a wide variety of offenses; in many cases, there is no reasonable basis to believe relevant evidence might be found in the car." Thornton, 541 U.S. at 632 (Scalia, J., concurring). Justice Scalia cited Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318, 121 S. Ct. 1536, 149 L. Ed. 2d 549 (2001) (involving failure to wear seatbelt), and Knowles v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 23, 2009 (boomark / email).