State v. Hempele

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

CLIFFORD, J.

The issue in these appeals, argued together, is the constitutionality of warrantless seizures and searches of garbage bags left on the curb for collection.

In State v. Hempele the trial court suppressed evidence seized under a warrant obtained after the warrantless seizure and search of defendants’ garbage. In State v. Pasanen the trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained under similar circumstances. The Appellate Division affirmed both the suppression order in Hempele and the order denying suppression in Pasanen.…