State v. Xiomara Gonzales(075911)

In this appeal, we must determine the proper scope of the plain-view exception to the warrant requirement under Article I, Paragraph 7 of the New Jersey Constitution.

In State v. Bruzzese, 94 N.J. 210, 236-38, 463 A.2d 320 (1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1030, 104 S.Ct. 1295, 79 L.Ed.2d 695 (1984), this Court adopted the plain-view exception as articulated in the plurality opinion in Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971). A warrantless seizure of evidence in plain view is justified when a police officer is lawfully in the area where he observed the…