Quote:
Originally Posted by stlchiefs
Funny this was brought up, we talked about this case in Criminal Procedure today (I have exactly 1 day left of law school). From my understanding/opinion this isn't really too much of a stretch of the law.
Even though the arrest was illegal, the search incident to arrest is not unreasonable because the cop had probable cause. Probable cause is all that is required for such a search and as stated this was present. So, though the cop incorrectly arrested the defendant when a summons was in order, because probable cause was present for the search, there is no reason to toss the evidence obtained from the search.
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Ok, so say a person was stopped for speeding, something small like 5 mph over the limit. A ticket is in order, but instead the police arrest the driver, and then search the car and find drugs, or a body, or stolen mechandise.
Do we say, the police officer was wrong to make an arrest for a speeding ticket, but the search was legal because there was then cause to search the car.
Use the same scenario, only this time the driver was going 1mph over, and had been the subject of interest in a crime, and this arrest was used to seize evidence that the police had been unable to obtain a warrant to search for.
I know that those circumstances don't necessarily match those of the case, but they are close. My question is where does the line get drawn?
And congrats on school and good luck with the bar exam.