E.D.N.C.: Seizure of computer on arrest was with PC; later search with warrant was valid

Officers came to defendant’s place to arrest him on a warrant for bank fraud, and they knew a computer had been used. In plain view was defendant’s laptop, and that gave the officers probable cause to seize it. After seizure, they applied for a search warrant to search it. The seizure was valid. United States v. Van Santvoord Camp, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5878 (E.D. N.C. January 18, 2012):

“[S]eizures of property are subject to Fourth Amendment scrutiny even though no search within the meaning of the Amendment has taken place.” Soldal v. Cook County, 506 U.S. 56, 68, 113 S. Ct. 538, 121 L. Ed. 2d 450 (1992). Law enforcement officers may seize evidence in plain view if “(1) the seizing officer is lawfully present at the place from which the evidence can be plainly viewed; (2) the seizing officer has a lawful right of access to the object itself; and (3) the object’s incriminating character is immediately apparent.” United States v. Williams, 592 F.3d 511, 521 (4th Cir. 2010) (internal quotations and citation omitted). After announcing the requirements of the plain view doctrine, the Supreme Court subsequently tailored the “immediately apparent” requirement: an officer need not “know” that an item is contraband or evidence of a crime, but rather must have probable cause to believe that the object is associated with the criminal activity. Texas v. Brown, 460 U.S. 730, 741-42, 103 S. Ct. 1535, 75 L. Ed. 2d 502 (1983).

Here, Agent Spears and Detective Boyce were lawfully in Defendant’s office pursuant to an arrest warrant. Defendant’s laptop was on Defendant’s desk in his office, in plain view of law enforcement. It was the only computer visible to law enforcement in Defendant’s office. Agent Spears, an investigating agent on Defendant’s case, knew that Defendant had used a computer as an instrumentality of the fraud that Defendant was being charged with and had been made aware by a reliable witness that Defendant utilized a laptop computer for business activities. Because Agent Spears had probable cause to believe that Defendant’s laptop was associated with Defendant’s criminal activity, the seizure of the laptop computer in Defendant’s office was pursuant to a valid exception to the warrant requirement.FN1

1 Defendant’s argument as to the validity of Agent Spears’ seizure of the laptop computer focuses solely on whether the seizure was a valid search incident to an arrest, assumedly because, in his affidavit in support of his application for a search warrant, Agent Spears refers to his seizure of the laptop as “incident to the arrest of [Defendant] on June 8, 2011.” Because the Court has found that a valid exception to the warrant requirement existed when Agent Spears seized the laptop, it is inapposite whether the Agent correctly identified his justification for seizing the laptop while arresting Defendant in his application for a search warrant.