Northrop v. Trippett (6th Cir. 2001) 265 F.3d 372, 379: Governor Brown Vetoes Bill on Searching Cell Phones Incident to Arrest

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Northrop v. Trippett (6th Cir. 2001) 265 F.3d 372, 379: When conducting a search incident to arrest, police may search items within the “immediate control” of the person arrested. Id. at 763, 89 S.Ct. 2034. The Supreme Court has construed the area within a person’s immediate control to include the “area from within which he might gain possession of a weapon or destructible evidence.” Id.
However, the right to search an item incident to arrest exists even if that item is no longer accessible to the defendant at the time of the search. So long as the defendant had the item within his immediate control near the time of his arrest, the item remains subject to a search incident to arrest.

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