Originally Posted by
PTravel
Nasty. One obvious point, however: upon arrest, you are allowed to search the suspect and his immediate possessions to ensure officer safety, which would include going through the papers in his briefcase.
If the briefcase is not pursuant to the arrest and the suspect has no access to it, the officer has no justification for not getting a warrant if they feel the briefcase contains evidence of a crime.
Any evidence found in the briefcase could and should be tossed.
The Supremes just ruled on a similar case involving the search of a vehicle and its contents.
Arizona v. Gant