Texas v Brown (1983) CASE LAW

In this short, Dennis goes over the U.S. Supreme Court Case of Texas v Brown (1983) which deals with plain view.

FACTS OF THE CASE:
At a routine driver's license checkpoint, a police officer saw a green party balloon, knotted near the tip, drop from the hands of a driver of a stopped automobile to his seat. The officer then shifted his position to obtain a better view and saw several plastic vials, quantities of loose white powder, and an open bag of party balloons in the glove compartment. The officer told the driver to get out of the car after the driver told him he had no license in his possession. The driver complied, and the police officer took the balloon out of the car, the balloon seeming to contain a sort of powdery substance. After the officer displayed the balloon to a fellow officer, they advised the driver that he was under arrest. They also conducted an on-the-scene inventory of the car, discovering several plastic bags containing a green leafy substance and a large bottle of milk sugar. These items and the balloon were seized by the police officers.

QUESTION:
Did the “plain view” doctrine justify the police seizure, thereby making the seized item admissible as evidence against the driver?

CONCLUSION:
According to the Court, the seizure of property in plain view involved no invasion of privacy and was presumptively reasonable, assuming that there was probable cause to associate the property with criminal activity.