CJ Chapter 9
• A warrant or probable cause is required for vehicle searches that take place away from the border.
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• Abandonment is defined as: the giving up of a thing or item absolutely, without limitation as to any particular person or purpose.
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• Abandonment of motor vehicles is determined by four factors: (1) flight from the vehicle, (2) where and for how long a vehicle is left unattended, (3) the condition in which the vehicle is left unattended, and (4) denial of possession or ownership of the vehicle
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• Aerial surveillance of curtilage is valid. An area may be an open field despite a locked gate and a "no trespassing" sign.
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• Curtilage is defined as: "the area to which extends the intimate activity associated with the sanctity of a man's home, and the privacies of life."
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• Four factors determine when items are considered abandoned. (1) Property left in an open field or public place is abandoned; (2) for property left on private premises, it depends on whether the occupant has left the premises; (3) for trash or garbage, it depends on where it is left; and (4) intent to abandon is determined by what a person does.
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• Fourth Amendment protections do not fully apply at immigration borders, but once inside the border some protections are afforded.
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• Inadvertence is no longer a plain view requirement
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• Plain View has three requirements. (1) Awareness of the item must be through use of the sense of sight; (2) the officer must be legally in the place from which the item is seen; and (3) it must be immediately apparent that the item is subject to seizure.
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• Plain View is defined as follows: Items that are within the sight of an officer who is legally in a place from which the view is made, and who had no prior knowledge that the items were present, may properly be seized without a warrant—as long as the items are immediately recognizable as subject to seizure.
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• Plain view applies even if mechanical devices are used.
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• Plain view applies to open spaces and to motor vehicles.
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• The rule on open fields is: Items in open fields are not protected by the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures, so they can be seized by an officer without a warrant or probable cause.
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• The suspicionless disassembling of a tank of a motor vehicle at the border is valid.
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• The test to determine curtilage is: If a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in a place, it is part of the curtilage and is protected by the Fourth Amendment.
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• Vehicles may be stopped at fixed checkpoints and occupants questioned
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Open View
Applies to instances when the officer is out in open space but sees an item within an enclosed area.
Plain Odor Doctrine
If an officer smells something that is immediately recognizable as sizeable that object can be seized as long as it amounts to probable cause.
Plain Touch Doctrine
If an officer touches or feels something that is immediately identifiable as sizeable, the object can be seized as long as such knowledge amounts to probable cause.
Curtilage
The area to which extends the intimate activity associated with the scantity of a man's home an the privacies of life.
Abandonment
The giving up of a thing or item without limitation as to any particular person or purpose.
Inadvertence
The officer must have no prior knowledge that the evidence was present in the place; the discovery must be purely accidental.
Factory survey
surprise visits by officials to determine if employees are illegal aliens.
Open Field Doctrine
Items in open fields are not protected by 4th amendments and can be taken by an officer without a warrant or probable cause.
Plain View Doctrine
Items that are within the sight of an officer who is legally in the place from which the view is made may properly be seized without a warrant as long as such items are immediately recognized as subject to seizure.
