Court Opinion

ID: 9465094
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 00:35:30.040358+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:58.138222
License: Public Domain

GIBSON, Chief Judge,
concurring in the result.
I agree with the majority that Schleis is entitled to reversal of his conviction. As in Chadwick, locked personal luggage belonging to the defendant was opened and *1175searched by law officers after being removed by them from the arrest scene and being placed under their exclusive control. I do not find it necessary to attempt to specify when that exclusive control was first established. I am reluctant to accept the majority’s dictum that, “Ordinarily, the initial seizure at the time of arrest would be sufficient to place the property within the officer’s exclusive control.” The adoption of that view would practically eliminate the search incident to arrest exception to the warrant requirement. We should adopt a major change in the already confused maze of Fourth Amendment cases only if convinced of its correctness when a case involving the question has arisen and been argued. To issue an advisory ruling today is premature and likely to further darken waters that are already murky.
I also agree that in light of Chadwick, the panel opinion’s reliance on United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800, 94 S.Ct. 1234, 39 L.Ed.2d 771 (1974), was misplaced. However, the crucial element in Edwards was not the defendant’s possession of the clothing at the place of detention. The majority have suggested no reason why a seizure at the jailhouse differs from a seizure at the arrest scene for purposes of a subsequent search of property that has been reduced to the exclusive control of law enforcement officers. The significant distinction between Edwards and Chadwick is the enhanced expectation of privacy exhibited by a person who places possessions inside locked personal luggage.
I do not seriously question the majority’s conclusion that Chadwick should not be limited to prospective application. However, that issue is not properly presented by this appeal. The Supreme Court remanded the present case for our consideration in light of Chadwick, thus Chadwick applies to this case whether or not it applies to any other.