UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, APPELLEE,
v.
VICTOR LUIS ZILLER, APPELLANT
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
A warrantless search of a wallet found on a person during a lawful arrest is permissible as an incident to the search of the person.
Appellant was arrested and searched, and his wallet was taken and opened, revealing incriminating evidence. He does not challenge the arrest or the se…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Warrantless Search Incident To Arrest cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
The appellant Ziller was convicted in the district court of importation of and conspiracy to import cocaine. He appeals. We affirm.
On this appeal, Ziller challenges the introduction into evidence of a piece of paper which he contends was illegally seized from his wallet without a warrant.
Ziller was arrested outside the San Francisco airport and transported directly to the federal building, at which time agents searched Zilier’s person. During the search, Ziller’s wallet was taken from his person, opened and a slip of paper containing damaging evidence was removed therefrom. Appellant challenges neither the legality of the arrest nor the search of his person, but does challenge the warrantless search of his wallet.
We have on previous occasions in this circuit upheld warrantless wallet searches. See, e. g., United States v. Gallop, 606 F. 2d 836 (9th Cir. 1979). Other circuits have held similarly, United States v. Sheehan, 583 F. 2d 30 (1st Cir. 1978); United States v. Swofford, 529 F. 2d 119 (8th Cir. 1976); United States v. Simpson, 453 F. 2d 1028 (10th Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 408 U.S. 925, 92 S.Ct. 2504, 33 L.Ed.2d 337 (1972); United States v. Castro, 596 F. 2d 674 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 963, 100 S.Ct. 448, 62 L.Ed.2d 375 (1979).
Appellant contends that these cases are not longer applicable in the light of United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1, 97 S.Ct. 2476, 53 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977). In Chadwick the Supreme Court held invalid a warrant-less search of a locked footlocker lawfully seized as incident to defendant’s arrest but which was not immediately associated with him. But the Court expressly excluded from the Chadwick holding “searches of the person” of the accused, as in United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 94 S.Ct. 467, 38 L.Ed.2d 427 (1973) and United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800, 94 S.Ct. 1234, 39 L.Ed.2d 771 (1974). 433 U.S. at 16 n.10, 97 S.Ct. at 2486 n.10. In our view, a search of the person which produced the wallet being permissible under Chadwick, a search of the contents of the wallet is likewise permissible as being an incident to and a part of a personal search.
AFFIRMED.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
State v. Forbes, 419 So. 2d 782 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)
-
United States v. Sonntag, 684 F.2d 781 (11th Cir. 1982)
-
United States v. Rafaela Monclavo-Cruz, 662 F.2d 1285 (9th Cir. 1981)
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (11 total)
- United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1977)
- United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (U.S. 1973)
- United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800 (U.S. 1974)
- Hicks v. Oklahoma, 444 U.S. 963 (U.S. 1979)
- Bowen v. Int'l Soc'y for Krishna Consciousness, Inc., 444 U.S. 963 (U.S. 1979)
- United States v. Celio Castro and Ralph Alfonso, 596 F.2d 674 (5th Cir. 1979)
- Susquehanna Corp. v. Dasho, 408 U.S. 925 (U.S. 1972)
- United States v. Simpson, 453 F.2d 1028 (10th Cir. 1972)
- United States v. Swofford, 529 F.2d 119 (8th Cir. 1976)
- United States v. Sheehan, 583 F.2d 30 (1st Cir. 1978)