Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321 (1987)

After receiving reports that a shot was fired from defendant's apartment, the officers went into the apartment to see if there were any injuries. The defendant was not present at the apartment but the officers found three guns and a face mask at his apartment. In addition, one of the officers saw two expensive stereo equipments which, according to the officer, seemed out of place. The officer moved the equipment to read the serial number and found out that the equipment was taken in a robbery. The defendant was charged with robbery but he was released. Now the state appeals.

Issue presented to the Supreme Court was whether there was an unlawful search when the officer moved the stereo equipment to read the serial number. The Court ruled in the affirmative.

The Court reasoned that even though the officers were lawfully on the property to see if there were any victims of the shooting, the moving of the stereo equipment started a new search which was not lawful. The Court stated that even though the stereo equipment was in plain view, the officers needed probable cause to move it to read the serial number and the court ruled that since the officers in the current case only had 'reasonable suspicion', their moving of the stereo equipment constituted unlawful search and violated the Fourth Amendment. Thus, the Court affirmed the lower court's ruling.

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