# Christmas v. United States

> District of Columbia Court of Appeals · February 1, 1974 · 314 A.2d 473

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9696716

## Case

- **Full name:** Richard G. CHRISTMAS, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES, Appellee
- **Court:** District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- **Decided:** February 1, 1974
- **Citations:** 314 A.2d 473; 1974 D.C. App. LEXIS 354
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Yeagley
- **Judges:** Reilly, Yeagley
- **Cited by:** 10 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9696716

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- finding seizure illegal absent probable cause to believe medicine vial contained contraband or endangered officer’s safety at the time of the initial intrusion

## Opinion text

YEAGLEY, Associate Judge
(concurring) :
I concur in the opinion of the court insofar as it finds no “plain view” basis for the seizure of the medicine vial from appellant’s auto. I have some difficulty, however, in finding circumstances present here to justify the initial intrusion into the car. The clear right of the officers to make a spot check justified them in asking the appellant to produce his driver’s permit and car registration, 1 which the officer said was done promptly. Those papers bejng in order, the earlier furtive movements of the passenger below the seat and the presence of a hole in the front door latch do not, in my view, provide the ingredients needed to make a search of the car reasonable lacking a prior custodial arrest. Watts v. United States, D.C.App., 297 A.2d 790 (1972), and authorities cited therein.
. See Palmore v. United States, D.C.App., 290 A.2d 573, 583 (1972), aff’d on other grounds, 411 U.S. 389 , 93 S.Ct. 1670 , 36 L.Ed.2d 342 (1973).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9696716. Public record. Not legal advice.