Arizona v. Hicks

In Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U. S. 443 (1971), we said that in certain circumstances a warrantless seizure by police of an item that comes within plain view during their lawful search of a private area may be reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. See id., at 465-471 (plurality opinion); id., at 505-506 (Black, J., concurring and dissenting); id., at 521-522 (White, J., concurring and dissenting). We granted certiorari, 475 U. S. 1107 (1986), in the present case to decide whether this “plain view” doctrine may be invoked when the police have less than probable cause to believe that the…