Legal term
Search incident to arrest
Answer: Search incident to arrest. This Fourth Amendment exception permits a warrantless search of the arrestee and the area within immediate control upon a lawful custodial arrest (Chimel). The search of the person and containers on the person is categorical (Robinson). It does not extend to digital cell phone contents without a warrant (Riley).
Rule to remember
Search incident to arrest: upon a lawful custodial arrest, officers may, without a warrant, search the arrestee and the area within immediate control for weapons and destructible evidence.
Key elements and checks
- Requires a lawful custodial arrest (not merely a stop or citation).
- Scope: the arrestee’s person and the area within immediate control (the “grab area”).
- Justifications: officer safety and evidence preservation (Chimel).
- Categorical authority to search the person and containers on the person; no case-specific showing needed (Robinson).
- Limits: no general rummaging of rooms or closed spaces beyond the grab area (Chimel).
- Digital contents of a cell phone generally require a warrant (Riley).
In the source’s words
“"'within his immediate control' construing that phrase to mean the area from within which he might gain possession of a weapon or destructible evidence."”
Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752 (1969) | LII
“"a full search of the person is not only an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment"”
United States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218 (1973) | LII
Meaningful state variation: some state constitutions provide greater protection than the federal baseline; always check state-specific doctrine and statutes.