A judge or magistrate in Utah can issue a search warrant that authorizes police to search a specific location and to seize items, objects, records, or other evidence relating to a crime. Utah’s Supreme Court has stated that without a warrant, a search and seizure conducted by police is presumptively unreasonable. Without a warrant, a prosecutor must be able to establish some exception to the normal warrant requirement.
An arrest warrant is different than a search warrant, but can still have the end result of giving police permission to conduct a limited level of search of items or objects. The chief function of an arrest warrant is to authorize police to “seize” a person, arrest the person, take the person into custody, book the person in jail, or bring the person directly before the court that issued the warrant.
Although an arrest warrant does not authorize additional searches by police, appellate courts in Utah have recognized certain warrant exceptions that apply when police are making an arrest.
“Search Incident to Arrest” – When police arrest a person, they are generally allowed to do a pat-down, to search the person’s clothing, pockets, etc. for the presence of weapons or other objects that could pose a safety risk to the officers or to others involved. to check pockets, for the purpose of assuring officer safety. Police are also allowed to conduct a “wingspan” search – checking the area immediately around the person at the time the person was seized and taken into custody (the area within the “wingspan” of the arrested person). The rational here again relating to concerns for officer safety.
“Plain View Doctrine” – The main justification for allowing a search incident to arrest is to ensure that the person arrested does not have access to anything that could be used as a weapon. But the plain view doctrine provides that if, while conducting an otherwise lawful search, seizure, or arrest, a police officer sees an object in plain view that is obvious evidence of a crime, the police officer is allowed to seize that object as evidence.