CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL SEARCH & SEIZURE: POLICE SEARCH INCIDENT TO ARREST IS LIMITED
GOOD GANT CASE; THE SCOPE OF A POLICE SEARCH INCIDENT TO ARREST IS LIMITED
The police arrested the defendant inside his house on warrants. They cuffed him and put him in a police car 30 feet away. They then entered the house to make sure no one else was inside. They went to the area where the defendant had been arrested and searched the area. They saw a sweatshirt on a recliner a foot from where the defendant had been standing, picked up the sweatshirt, and saw a pistol. The defendant was charged and convicted of obliterating the identification number on that firearm.
Essentially, the AG argues that the law before Arizona v. Gant (129 S.Ct. 1710) was unclear, so suppression shouldn't be required. The California Court of Appeal says that the law was clear, and Gant just reinforced it. The police can't do a search incident to arrest of the area within the immediate control of the def. when they remove the defendant from that very area.
People v. Leal; 2009 DJ DAR 15507; DJ, 11/2/09; C/A 6th
