Plain View / Open Fields Case Study

Running head : Doctrines of Plain View

Open Fields and Plain View Doctrines

Name

School

Professor

Course

Open Fields and Plain View Doctrines

Officers Trent Nelson and Lance Mahoney were patrolling in Mill Ave While patrolling they witnessed a man running while being chased by a woman . It was found out that the man forcibly took the bag of the woman The two officers chased the man but they lost trace of him . However , the man dropped the purse . While in the act of chasing , Officer Nelson heard a

fight and he located it . From a brick- walled backyard , he saw two teenagers fighting . He entered through the open gate and pacified the two . He also noticed baggies in the patio table few yards away . He called the parents of the boys and they went in the patio table . He noticed it to be drugs and eventually arrested the woman who was explaining about the baggies . On the other hand , Officer Mahoney pursued on the dropped purse . As he retrieved the stolen purse , he noticed marijuana cigarettes , among others , spilled from the purse . He then arrested the woman and took the contents of the purse as evidence against the woman

In the general practice , police officers are mandated to obtain a valid search warrant before they can search for items or goods in a place of the suspect . Absence of a search warrant would make the evidences obtained inadmissible when presented in court . The consequence would be wastage in effort and losing the case . Thus , a search warrant is very essential . However , there are two cases wherein a search warrant is not needed . These are the doctrines of plain view and open fields

In the present case , the evidences , marijuana and drugs were legally obtained from the crime scene . The doctrine of plain view is applicable when Officer Mahoney took the marijuana . Meanwhile , a plain view doctrine is an exception to the warrant requirement which allows a police officer seize items which they observe and immediately recognize as evidence or contraband while they are lawfully present in an area protected by the 14th amendment (PoliceLink .com , 2008 . There are three elements before police officer can claim it as an exemption under the plain view doctrine . First , it is required that the officer must lawfully present in the place protected by the 14th Amendment (PoliceLink .com , 2008 . Second , the items must be out in plain view (PoliceLink .com , 2008 . Third , the officer must immediately recognize the item as evidence or contraband without making a further intrusion (PoliceLink .com , 2008 . In the present case , Officer Mahoney was lawfully in a place where the marijuana was seized . This is so because they were in legal discharge of their authority as police officers in chasing criminals . The second element is also present as the marijuana was spilled from the purse and is in the plain view of the officer . The woman cannot further state that the marijuana was seized from the purse as the item...