Legal Opinion
Alston v. United States
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Decided November 26, 1986No. 84-1519PublishedCited by 33 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
STEADMAN, Associate Judge:
Appellant was convicted in a bench trial of one count of shoplifting, in violation of D.C.Code § 22-3813 (1986 Supp.). 1 Appellant claims that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress the contents of her tote bag on the ground that the search was by a private citizen and therefore the Fourth Amendment did not apply. We conclude that the department store employee who searched her bag was, under the circumstances, subject to the Fourth Amendment, but that the search was nonetheless constitutional, since it was incident to a lawful arrest. 2 Accordingly,…
2Cases cited32 opinions
- Coolidge v. New HampshireSupreme Court of the United States · 1971
- Chimel v. CaliforniaSupreme Court of the United States · 1969
- United States v. RobinsonSupreme Court of the United States · 1973
- New York v. BeltonSupreme Court of the United States · 1981
- United States v. ChadwickSupreme Court of the United States · 1977
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3Cited by33 opinions
- Umanzor v. United StatesDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals · 2002
- Commonwealth v. MaderaMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1988
- Fingerhut v. Children's National Medical CenterDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals · 1999
- Moorehead v. District of ColumbiaDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals · 2000
- ARTHUR G. NEWMYER v. THE SIDWELL FRIENDS SCHOOL and JAMES F. HUNTINGTONDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals · 2015
28 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.