Practice question
An officer lawfully arrests a person in a doorway and claims that this alone authorizes a search of a locked room far beyond the arrestee's reach. No other search exception or warrant applies. Is the claim correct?
- Yes, an arrest permits searching every room automatically
- Yes, all property of an arrestee loses protection
- Yes, if the officer hopes to find evidence
- Yes, because a doorway arrest is equivalent to a general warrant
- No, incident-to-arrest authority does not automatically extend to a remote area outside its permitted scope
Legal references
- Rule 126, Section 13; Macabuhay v. People, G.R. No. 270337, August 13, 2025; Patotoy v. People, G.R. No. 257910, March 4, 2025, main decisions.
- Reviewed primary authority, Rule 126, Section 13: https://lawphil.net/courts/rules/rc_110-127_crim.html
- Reviewed primary authority, Main decision, paragraph on substantially contemporaneous search and preexisting probable cause: https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/70028
- Reviewed primary authority, Main decision, search purpose and scope: https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2025/mar2025/gr_257910_2025.html
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