Opinion ID: 2570155
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: A Warrantless Search is Presumptively Unreasonable.

Text: {10} Any warrantless search analysis must start with the bedrock principle of both federal and state constitutional jurisprudence that searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable, subject only to well-delineated exceptions. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967). Warrantless seizures are presumed to be unreasonable and the State bears the burden of proving reasonableness. State v. Weidner, 2007-NMCA-063, ¶ 6, 141 N.M. 582, 158 P.3d 1025. {11} Despite the constitutional preference for interposing a neutral judicial officer between the police and the citizen before a search may be conducted, our courts have historically recognized that it is not always reasonable to require a warrant and have developed a number of well-established exceptions to the warrant requirement, including the search incident to arrest and exigent circumstances exceptions relied on by the State in this case. See State v. Duffy, 1998-NMSC-014, ¶ 61, 126 N.M. 132, 967 P.2d 807. {12} Because both the United States and the New Mexico Constitutions provide overlapping protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, we apply our interstitial approach set forth in Gomez, 1997-NMSC-006, ¶¶ 19-23, 122 N.M. 777, 932 P.2d 1. Gomez requires that we first consider whether the United States Constitution makes the challenged police procedures unlawful under the United States Constitution. Id. ¶ 19. If so, the fruits usually must be suppressed as evidence. If not, we next consider whether the New Mexico Constitution makes the search unlawful. Id.