When is a warrantless search allowed?

written by Howard

These are the instances when a warrantless search is allowed:

1. Warrantless search incidental to a lawful arrest recognized under Section 12, Rule 126 of the Rules of Court 8 and by prevailing jurisprudence;

2. Seizure of evidence in “plain view,” the elements of which are:

(a) the law enforcement officer in search of the evidence has a prior justification for an intrusion or is in a position from which they can view a particular area;

(b) the discovery of the evidence in plain view is inadvertent; and

(c) it is immediately apparent to the officer that the item they observe may be evidence of a crime, contraband, or otherwise subject to seizure;

3. Search of a moving vehicle. Highly regulated by the government, the vehicle’s inherent mobility reduces expectation of privacy especially when its transit in public thoroughfares furnishes a highly reasonable suspicion amounting to probable cause that the occupant committed a criminal activity;

4. Consented warrantless search;

5. Customs search;

6. Stop and Frisk;  and

7. Exigent and Emergency Circumstances.