Search Incident to Arrest Exception and Personal Belongings

An old favorite on our first show of 2024, a search incident to arrest. Was it reasonable for the police to open a man’s backpack when he already lay handcuffed on the ground? Or should they have gotten a warrant first? IJ’s John Wrench analyzes this matter from the First Circuit where a case from the ‘70s about a bank robber suppresses a motion to suppress. Then IJ’s Betsy Sanz takes us out west to Los Angeles—but should it have been only as far as Nebraska? That’s the question the Ninth Circuit addresses where we encounter a lying congressman, the Vicinage Clause, and our friends at the FBI.

Click here for transcript.

U.S. v. Perez

U.S. v. Fortenberry

Riley v. California

Blog post on an Illinois case and vicinage