State v. Warness

OPINION

SCHROEDER, Judge.

This appeal from a conviction and $100 fine for possession of marijuana requires us to determine whether the trial court properly applied the “plain view” doctrine in holding that the evidence of contraband was not the product of an unlawful search or seizure. We hold that in the circumstances of this case, where the police officers were lawfully on the premises of the appellant, inadvertently discovered the contraband while it was lying in plain view, and identified it on the basis of visual inspection, the conviction and sentence must be affirmed.

The facts leading up…