FACTS:
A day after elements of the NARCOM team had conducted a surveillance and successful test buy on appellant pursuant to an information received that he is engaged in the sale of marijuana, a buy-bust operation was planned which resulted in appellant’s arrest. The team found a plastic bag containing dried marijuana.
ISSUE(S):
Whether or not the search and seizure was lawful.
HELD:
YES. The NARCOM agents searched the person of the appellant after arresting him in his house but found nothing. They then searched the entire house and, in the kitchen, found and seized a plastic bag hanging in a corner. The warrantless search and seizure, as an incident to a suspect’s lawful arrest, may extend beyond the person of the one arrested to include the premises or surroundings under his immediate control. Objects in the “plain view” of an officer who has the right to be in the position to have that view are subject to seizure and may be presented as evidence.
Appeal is DISMISSED and the judgment of the trial court AFFIRMED.
