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In a search warrant for “guns, drugs, and ammunition,” officers searched a box and opened folded papers finding child pornography. This was valid as a plain view because the officers have the authority to look in folder papers for drugs. United States v. McManaman, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5341 (8th Cir. March 14, 2012):

Under a warrant to search McManaman's home for guns, drugs, and ammunition, officers would have had the authority to search in any closet, container, or other closed compartment in the building large enough to contain the possible contraband. See United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 820-21 (1982). We have applied the plain view doctrine in similar circumstances where a search warrant "authorized the police to seize, among other things, drugs and drug paraphernalia, either of which could have been stored in a box in a closet. The police were, therefore, acting within the scope of the warrant when they opened the box containing [incriminating] photos." United States v. Evans, 966 F.2d 398, 400 (8th Cir. 1992). Even if the pictures in the present case were folded up in the box, it seems reasonable to conclude, as the magistrate judge did, that "officers would have had reason to unfold the documents to determine whether they contained drugs, which often are contained within folded pieces of paper." United States v. McManaman, No. CR10-4024-MWB, 2010 WL 3717288 at *7 n.2 (N.D. Iowa Sept. 15, 2010).

The officers came across the photographs and the videotape with McManaman's step-daughter's name on it within the scope of a search that would have been proper had they obtained a search warrant. Because the incriminating nature of this evidence was immediately apparent to the officers, they were entitled to seize it under the plain view doctrine. Therefore the district court did not err in denying McManaman's motion to suppress because of the inevitable discovery doctrine.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A former Rutgers University student convicted Friday in the webcam spying episode that ended in his gay roommate's suicide could be headed off to prison in a case experts say stands as a tragic lesson for young people about casual cruelties and unintended consequences in ...

The CIs gave detailed information that indicated a pattern of drug dealing from defendant’s house, and that was probable cause and overcame staleness. The district court did not err in denying a hearing on the motion to suppress where the motion only presented questions of law on PC, nexus, staleness, and good faith exception. United States v. Lawson, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 5374, 2012 FED App. 0278N (6th Cir. March 13, 2012):

Lawson's motion, contending that the warrant was based on stale information insufficient to amount to probable cause, set forth purely legal questions. As in Abboud, Lawson "argued that the facts were insufficient to support probable cause" and that there was insufficient corroboration, both of which "contest[] a legal conclusion." 438 F.3d at 577. Similarly, he "argued that the probable cause was stale[, which] too was a challenge to a legal conclusion." Id. Finally, Lawson challenged Leon's applicability to the case, which is also a pure legal question. The issues before that court at the time of its denial were all purely legal questions and, therefore, we do not find that the district court abused its discretion in denying Lawson's request.

Three people trying to tow away a vehicle without proper towing gear was reasonable suspicion. United States v. Boone, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33915 (W.D. N.C. February 1, 2012).*