Opinion ID: 1998034
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Items from brown bag

Text: Williams also contends that certain items seized from the brown bag should have been suppressed because they did not fit within the description in the warrant of items to be seized. The Fourth Amendment requires that search warrants particularly describe the place to be searched and the things to be seized. U.S. CONST. amend. IV. Williams argues that the several items seized from the brown bag were outside the scope of the warrant, and therefore should have been suppressed. Specifically, Williams points to the following items seized from the brown bag: (1) the crow bar; (2) a pair of shorts; (3) two store receipts; (4) cigarettes; and (5) a jar of Vaseline. Although only the crow bar and the receipts were actually admitted as evidence at trial, we cannot anticipate whether the State will seek to admit other items seized from the bag at a second trial. Hence, we will briefly consider Williams's objections to all five items. [9] Even assuming Williams is correct that none of the five items fits within the description of items to be seized in the warrant, several of the items were clearly within the scope of the plain view doctrine, and thus not subject to suppression. As we explained in Livingston v. State, 317 Md. 408, 564 A.2d 414 (1989): The plain view doctrine `serves to supplement a previously justified intrusion,... and permits a warrantless seizure.' State v. Wilson, 279 Md. 189, 194, 367 A.2d 1223, 1227 (1977). Therefore, when the police (1) have a prior justification for their intrusion; (2) inadvertently discover evidence which is in plain view; and (3) immediately perceive that what they have discovered is evidence, they are permitted to seize that evidence. 317 Md. at 412, 564 A.2d at 416-17. Here, there is no question that police were justified in searching the brown bag pursuant to a valid warrant, and that the items were discovered inadvertently during the search. The only question is whether the police had probable cause to believe the items were incriminating. See Livingston, 317 Md. at 412 n. 5, 564 A.2d at 417 n. 5. We believe the police had probable cause to seize the store receipts, which provided police with vital evidence of Williams's location and activity after the murders. The receipts also provided police with evidence that Williams had spent money, which was significant because police had evidence that Williams had withdrawn money using the victims' ATM cards. Further, one of the receipts had a Baltimore address, and police knew that Gilbert's Acura Legend had been discovered in Baltimore. The fact that the officer who seized the receipts may have had to peruse them to some extent before ascertaining that they potentially linked Williams to the crimes does not take the seizure outside the scope of the plain view exception. The warrant authorized police to seize various documents and receipts from the bag, including [a]ny and all documents, papers, [or] writings belonging to Gilbert or Trias, or any documents tending to show a connection between Williams and Gilbert and Trias. Thus, the police were entitled to peruse the receipts to determine whether they were within the scope of the warrant. See U.S. v. Menon, 24 F.3d 550, 563 (3rd Cir.1994)(recognizing that when a search warrant authorizes the seizure of documents, police are entitled to glance at each document to determine whether it is within the scope of the warrant); see also United States v. Slocum, 708 F.2d 587, 604 (11th Cir.1983). In the course of lawfully examining these receipts, the police obtained probable cause to seize them under the plain view exception. Police also had probable cause to seize the cigarettes, because officers had observed a cigarette butt at the crime scene. Police had probable cause to seize the crow bar, which they could have believed at that time may have been used to gain entry to the house. [10] There was no testimony at the suppression hearing as to the evidentiary significance of the jar of Vaseline or the shorts, both of which Williams now complains were improperly seized. Hence, we cannot conclude they were within the plain view exception.