KS: Getting in car after a drug deal makes its search subject to search incident and automobile exception

Defendant did a drug deal with narcs and had $220 in cash with recorded numbers. He got in his car. On the stop of the car, the search for the $220 was justified by either search incident to arrest or the automobile exception. State v. Torres, 2016 Kan. App. LEXIS 72 (Dec. 23, 2016) (see Treatise § 24.01 n.26). [The court discounted the state’s reliance on plain view since the $220 was visible inside the car after the stop and the officers hadn’t yet entered the car. It appears the plain view analysis is wrong, but pointless, because there was probable cause for a stop and a search. Instead, the court should have said it didn’t need to decide that question rather than confuse plain view in Kansas.]

Defendant bought a receiver, a part for an assault rifle, through the Internet. The person selling was a retired police officer and reported it. Defendant had eight such purchases in the prior two years, and the parts were shipped to his home. Since defendant was a convicted felon, there was a reasonable inference for issuance of a search warrant for the home that weapons would be found there. State v. Holley, 2016 Conn. LEXIS 408 (Dec. 28, 2016).*