Legal News

From the New Jersey Law Journal:

U.S. HIGH COURT LIMITS WARRANTLESS VEHICLE SEARCHESThe U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police need a warrant to search the vehicle of someone they have arrested if the person is locked up in a patrol cruiser and poses no safety threat to officers. The Court's 5-4 decision in a case from Arizona puts new limits on the ability of police to search a vehicle immediately after the arrest of a suspect, particularly when the alleged offense is nothing more serious than a traffic violation. Justice John Paul Stevens said in the majority opinion that warrantless searches still may be conducted if a car's passenger compartment is within reach of a suspect who has been removed from the vehicle or there is reason to believe evidence will be found of the crime that led to the arrest.

REASONABLE-CONTINUATION DOCTRINE JUSTIFIES SECONDARY SEARCH

Following the lead of the federal courts, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Tuesday that law enforcement officials can rely on the "reasonable continuation" doctrine when they decide to conduct additional searches of a suspect's property following a valid initial search. The Appellate Division ruling, in State v. Finesmith, A-1056-08, means prosecutors will be able to use evidence of child pornography seized from a suspect's laptop computer, even though police did not find the laptop during the initial search of the suspect's home and only learned of its location when a detective questioned him after he had invoked his right to counsel. The warrant authorized the police to search the home for "any and all computers" and the court said it was clear the police would have considered their search of the home incomplete without finding the laptop.