Opinion ID: 1346048
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: whether evidence admitted at trial was illegally seized

Text: The State asserts that the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that law enforcement officers illegally searched Konfrst's vehicle and seized the items found therein. Both the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and article I, § 7, of the Nebraska Constitution protect against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. State v. Newman, supra . Searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by a judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions. Id. Less rigorous requirements govern searches of automobiles, not only because of the element of mobility, but because the expectation of privacy with respect to one's automobile is significantly less than that relating to one's home or office. State v. Hill, 214 Neb. 865, 336 N.W.2d 325 (1983). One has a lesser expectation of privacy in a motor vehicle because its function is for transportation purposes and it seldom serves as one's residence or as the repository of personal effects. United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977); Cardwell v. Lewis, 417 U.S. 583, 94 S.Ct. 2464, 41 L.Ed.2d 325 (1974); State v. Watts, 209 Neb. 371, 307 N.W.2d 816 (1981). As such, the recognized exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement as applied to automobiles include probable cause, exigent circumstances, consent, search incident to arrest, inventory search, and plain view. See, generally, 68 Am.Jur.2d Searches and Seizures §§ 61 and 62 (1993).