Opinion ID: 582657
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Alleged Warrantless Search of Truck

Text: 6 Nance contends that before the warrant issued, his jacket was seized in a warrantless search of his truck. Lawson testified without contradiction that Nance was next to the open door of his truck, holding his jacket in his hand, when he was arrested. A large amount of cash was sticking out of the jacket pocket. When Nance was told to put his arms up, he dropped the coat, which landed partly on the truck seat and partly across the door frame. Lawson then either moved the jacket farther into the truck or put it into a police car and it was taken to the local police station. 7 According to this testimony, anyone in the parking lot at the time of the arrest could have seen the jacket and the money jutting from it. The mere observation of the jacket and money was not a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. See Texas v. Brown, 460 U.S. 730, 740, 103 S.Ct. 1535, 1542, 75 L.Ed.2d 502 (1983) (plurality opinion); see also United States v. Washington, 797 F.2d 1461, 1469 (9th Cir.1986) (seizure of property in plain view involves no invasion of privacy and is presumptively reasonable assuming probable cause to associate property with criminal activity). The district court did not clearly err in holding the truck had not been searched, with or without a warrant, when the jacket was seized. 8 Nance also contends the police must have found the pistol in his bag during a warrantless search of his truck because he was booked on a weapons charge before the warrant issued. However, Nance was charged with possessing a weapon because he had told the undercover officer from whom he had agreed to buy cocaine that he had a gun in his bag, which was in his truck. An informant traveling with Nance had also told the officer he had seen Nance with a gun that was in a suitcase in the bed of the pickup. Further, the government's witnesses stated unequivocally the truck was not searched before the warrant was issued. The district court did not clearly err in finding there was no warrantless search of the truck.