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Plain View Doctrine Essay

1006 Words5 Pages

The plain view doctrine is defined as, "the rule that if police officers see or come across something while acting lawfully, that item may be used as evidence in a criminal trial even if the police did not have a search warrant", (Hall, 2015, p. 424).Furthermore, there are several components required under the plain view doctrine that must exist. A law enforcement officer must lawfully be in an area, the contraband or object is in plain view of the officer, the officer can see the contraband or object, the officer has probable cause to believe the contraband or object is associated with a crime, and the contraband or object may be seized by the officer in the course of their investigation (Bethel, 2015). Contrary to a warrantless search, if …show more content…

There are some exceptions to warrantless searches under the plain view doctrine in regards to specific locations that may be searched by the officer and what can be seized. An officer may seize what is considered to be evidence or contraband if the officer has a reason to believe that it will be destroyed or come up missing. If an officer is in pursuit, executing a search warrant, on an emergency call, regardless of the nature of the emergency call, or conducting a stop and frisk, the officer "is not expected to overlook illegal objects in plain sight", (Hall, 2015, p. 425). If the officer is on the scene of an emergency call, the officer can search and seize any contraband that is in plain view and obtain a search warrant for the remainder of the premises, if the officer can articulate that probable cause exists. The same applies to an officer engaged in a pursuit, and the suspect flees on foot into a residence. The officer can enter the residence to locate the suspect and search the immediate area of which the suspect was located. If contraband is

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