Federal Judiciary

Seventh Circuit Notes Split Re Whether Contents of Bag Were in "Plain View" Because Known By Police With Certainty

The police unquestionably were lawfully in the apartment, and unquestionably entitled to open the cabinet in the entertainment center. And there in plain view was the blue travel bag that they knew contained cocaine. (Whether, though the bag itself did not reveal its contents, those contents could be thought in ?plain view? because known with certainty, is an issue that has divided the circuits, e.g., compare United States v. Gast, 405 F.3d 797, 801-02 (9th Cir.2005), with United States v. Williams, 41 F.3d 192, 197-98 (4th Cir.1994), and on which our court has not taken a position and need not do so in this case.)

Full post as published by Split Circuits on April 11, 2008 (boomark / email).