Criminal Procedure

Case Study 2: Plain View, Open Fields, Abandonment, and Border Searches as They Relate to Search and Seizures

Officer  Williams asked the neighborhood’s regular trash collector to put the  content of the defendant’s garbage that was left on the curb in plastic  bags and to turn over the bags to him at the end of the day. The trash  collector did as the officer asked in order to not mix the garbage once  he collected the defendant’s garbage. Then, Officer Williams’ partner,  Officer Martinez, searched through the garbage and found items  indicative of narcotics use. Officer Williams and Officer Martinez then  recited the information that was obtained from the trash in an affidavit  in support of a warrant to search the defendant’s home. Officer  Martinez and Officer Williams encountered the defendant at the house  later that day upon execution of the warrant. The officers found  quantities of cocaine and heroin during the search and arrested the  defendant on felony narcotics charges.

Write a 2- to 3-page paper in which you:

Identify the constitutional amendment that would govern Officer Williams’ and Officer Martinez’ actions. 
Analyze the validity and constitutionality of the officers’ actions. 
Assess if the officers’ actions were justified under the  doctrines of plain view, abandonment, open fields, or border searches.  Support your response by citing specific case law and/or contemporary  cases. 
Use at least three quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other similar websites do not qualify as academic resources