State v. J.R.
SummaryOriginal

Summary

Maine Supreme Court upholds adjudication for possessing drugs found during search after arrest for curfew violation.

2018 | State Juristiction

State v. J.R.

Keywords search incident to arrest; juvenile offender; juvenile court; juvenile delinquency adjudication

Abstract

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court case of State of Maine v. J.R. (2018) involved a juvenile named J.R. who was adjudicated delinquent for possessing controlled substances. The drugs were found during a search after J.R. was arrested for violating a curfew ordinance. J.R. challenged the search, arguing the arresting officers lacked probable cause for the curfew arrest and therefore the evidence shouldn't have been admitted. The Court disagreed. They ruled that the curfew violation provided sufficient probable cause for the arrest and that the search was justified as a search incident to arrest.

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Abstract

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court case of State of Maine v. J.R. (2018) involved a juvenile named J.R. who was adjudicated delinquent for possessing controlled substances. The drugs were found during a search after J.R. was arrested for violating a curfew ordinance. J.R. challenged the search, arguing the arresting officers lacked probable cause for the curfew arrest and therefore the evidence shouldn't have been admitted. The Court disagreed. They ruled that the curfew violation provided sufficient probable cause for the arrest and that the search was justified as a search incident to arrest.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court case of State of Maine v. J.R. (2018) addressed the legality of a search conducted following a juvenile's arrest for violating a curfew ordinance. The juvenile, identified as J.R., challenged the search, arguing that the arresting officers lacked probable cause to justify the arrest, and therefore the evidence obtained from the search should be suppressed.

The Court, however, upheld the legality of the search. It reasoned that the curfew violation provided sufficient probable cause for the arrest, and consequently, the search conducted incident to the arrest was justified. This ruling reinforces the principle that a lawful arrest allows for a contemporaneous search of the individual, even if the arrest itself is based on a relatively minor offense like a curfew violation.

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Abstract

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court case of State of Maine v. J.R. (2018) involved a juvenile named J.R. who was adjudicated delinquent for possessing controlled substances. The drugs were found during a search after J.R. was arrested for violating a curfew ordinance. J.R. challenged the search, arguing the arresting officers lacked probable cause for the curfew arrest and therefore the evidence shouldn't have been admitted. The Court disagreed. They ruled that the curfew violation provided sufficient probable cause for the arrest and that the search was justified as a search incident to arrest.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court case State of Maine v. J.R. (2018) addressed the legality of a search conducted after a juvenile, J.R., was arrested for violating a curfew ordinance. The case centered around the question of whether the arrest provided sufficient probable cause to justify the subsequent search, which uncovered controlled substances.

J.R. argued that the officers lacked probable cause to arrest him for violating curfew, and therefore the evidence found during the search should be inadmissible.

The court, however, determined that the violation of the curfew ordinance (part of his probation) constituted sufficient probable cause for the arrest. As a result, the search was deemed justifiable under the legal doctrine of "search incident to arrest," which allows law enforcement to search a person and their immediate surroundings following a lawful arrest.

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Abstract

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court case of State of Maine v. J.R. (2018) involved a juvenile named J.R. who was adjudicated delinquent for possessing controlled substances. The drugs were found during a search after J.R. was arrested for violating a curfew ordinance. J.R. challenged the search, arguing the arresting officers lacked probable cause for the curfew arrest and therefore the evidence shouldn't have been admitted. The Court disagreed. They ruled that the curfew violation provided sufficient probable cause for the arrest and that the search was justified as a search incident to arrest.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court case State of Maine v. J.R. (2018) focused on a young person named J.R. who was found guilty of having illegal drugs. The drugs were found during a search after J.R. was arrested for a curfew violation. J.R. argued that the police didn't have enough reason to arrest him and, therefore, the evidence shouldn't be allowed in court.

The court decided against J.R.'s argument. They ruled that breaking curfew (a violation of his probation) gave the police enough reason to arrest him, and that searching him after the arrest was justified.

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Abstract

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court case of State of Maine v. J.R. (2018) involved a juvenile named J.R. who was adjudicated delinquent for possessing controlled substances. The drugs were found during a search after J.R. was arrested for violating a curfew ordinance. J.R. challenged the search, arguing the arresting officers lacked probable cause for the curfew arrest and therefore the evidence shouldn't have been admitted. The Court disagreed. They ruled that the curfew violation provided sufficient probable cause for the arrest and that the search was justified as a search incident to arrest.

This case is about a teenager named J.R. who got in trouble with the law in Maine. J.R. was found to have some illegal drugs. The police found the drugs after J.R. was arrested for breaking a rule about being out past a certain time (called a curfew violation) according to his probation rules.

J.R. tried to say the police shouldn't have looked for the drugs because they didn't have a good reason to arrest him. But the court said the police had a good reason because J.R. had broken a rule of his probation. They said the police were allowed to search J.R. because they had arrested him.

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Footnotes and Citation

Cite

State of Maine v. J.R., 2018 ME 117 (Me. 2018)

Highlights