State v. Esteves

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

O’HERN, J.

This appeal questions the admissibility of evidence found in the search of the interior of an automobile following discovery of what appeared to be a weapon. The trial court admitted the evidence because its discovery was incidental to the defendant’s arrest and because the possible presence of other weapons made the search reasonable under the circumstances. In an unreported decision, the Appellate Division reversed. In its opinion, the only possible basis for a warrantless search was a search incident to a lawful arrest. It ruled that,…