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Hey guys, it's Anthony Bandiero Here attorney and senior legal instructor for Blue to Gold Law enforcement training, bringing you the roadside chat from the studio. Let's get started. So today's question is, what is plain view? Alright, what is plain view? So, plain view is nothing more than right to be right to see. Right. That's how I train it right to be right to see, hear and smell. So basically the idea here is that if you are lawfully present, there is no search under the Fourth Amendment, by using your God given senses, there is no search, if you are lawfully in somebody's home, investigating a domestic violence. And you're looking around the home, even if you had the intent to find something, right. You know, let's say that the the husband is a suspected drug dealer, and you are lawfully present because of that. Because of the investigation in your mind like Well, hey, since I'm here, let me see if I can find plain view evidence. And you look over, and you see drugs, stuff behind a book in the bookcase, you're like, well, that's a little, you know, cellophane package, you know, sticking out a little bit, he tried to hide it before you guys came in and didn't do a good job. That's plain view. Right? That's plain view, you have a right to be where you're at. You're using your God given senses. And the evidence is immediately apparent. So that's another thing that courts will throw in there, they'll say not only do you have to be lawfully present, the evidence has to be immediately apparent as evidence, contraband and so forth. All that means it's not that, you know, you look at it in instantly, you know what it is, right? You know, it's evidence. You don't you can look at and be like, Wait, is that what am I seeing what I'm seeing here, you know, so forth. But immediately apparent, basically means that you have probable cause without manipulation. So if you manipulate something that's not playing view, let me give you an example. You're in a home, you, you see a very expensive stereo, that you believe a stolen, you move the stereo out from the wall to see the serial number. So you can check with dispatch to see if that's part of a stolen report. That's not playing to you, right? Because you manipulated it. Now, let's add one more fact here. Before we go, don't forget about the seizing of the item. So plain view does not necessarily allow you to seize it. Right? You can only seize the item, if seizing it would not cause another constitutional intrusion. So for example, if you're walking by an apartment, and you look in the window, and you see drugs in plain view, like on the kitchen table, that doesn't mean that you get to go into the apartment to seize it. You know, seeing it is one thing, seizing it as another. So plain view, seizure requires lawful access. So, for example, you're in a home domestic violence, you're doing a protective sweep, you walk by in a room, you look in there and you see drugs on top of the bed, you could go in there and seize the drugs because you're already in the home. But you couldn't do the same thing if you saw it through the window of an apartment. Now, if the guy is in the bathroom, he comes out and he sees you looking in his apartment. And he knows the jig is up. He grabs the drugs and starts going towards the bathroom to flush them away. Well, if you enter it would be most likely valid under eminent destruction of evidence. There it is guys plain view is right to be right to see hear and smell. If you want to seize it, you have to have lawful access. There you go. Hope it helps. Stay safe out there guys. If you like what I'm doing, I'm asked you a couple favors. Number one, hit like or a comment, subscribe to my YouTube channel and my friends please share with other people. Alright, until next time, my friends stay safe.
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