Title: Williams v. State

State: arkansas

Issuer: Arkansas Supreme Court

Document:

Houston WILLIAMS and Kathlene Williams v.
STATE of Arkansas

CR 96-834                                          ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered February 10, 1997


1.   Search & seizure -- plain-view doctrine -- when applicable. -- The
     plain-view doctrine may be applied under the following
     circumstances: (1) when the initial intrusion was lawful; (2)
     when the incriminating nature of the items was immediately
     apparent; and (3) when the discovery of the items was
     inadvertent; the observation of items in plain view is not a
     search.

2.   Search & seizure -- items discovered during search were not in plain view
     -- initial search of appellants' home unlawful. -- Where incriminating
     items discovered by a police officer during a search of
     appellants' residence were not in his plain view but were
     found by moving a bag of cookies and opening a desk drawer,
     the most elemental aspect of the plain-view doctrine was not
     met; once an officer's activity crosses the line from
     observation into a probing quest for evidence, a search has
     begun, and the realm of the plain-view doctrine is left
     behind; here, a warrantless search of appellants' residence
     took place; warrantless searches of a suspect's home are
     presumptively unreasonable; the State has the burden of
     proving that such a search is reasonable; as none of the
     exceptions to the warrant requirement could be shown by the
     State, the initial search conducted in appellants' home was
     unlawful.    

3.   Search & seizure -- independent-source doctrine. --  While the
     exclusionary rule prohibits the introduction of tangible and
     testimonial evidence derived from an unlawful search, such
     evidence may nonetheless be admissible if discovered through
     an independent source; this is referred to as the
     "independent-source doctrine." 

4.   Search & seizure -- determination of illegality's effect on validity of
     warrant -- first prong of Murray test weighed in favor of warrant
     validity. -- Pursuant to Murray v. United States,