Chimel v. California

Chimel v. California
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 27, 1969 Decided June 23, 1969
Full case name	Ted Chimel v. State of California
Citations	395 U.S. 752 (more) 89 S. Ct. 2034; 23 L. Ed. 2d 685; 1959 U.S. LEXIS 1166
Argument	Oral argument
Case history
Prior	Conviction affirmed, People v. Chimel, 61 Cal. Rptr. 714 (Ct. App. 1967); affirmed, 68 Cal. 2d 436, 439 P.2d 333 (1968); cert. granted, 393 U.S. 958 (1968).
Subsequent	Rehearing denied, 396 U.S. 869 (1969).
Holding
An arresting officer may search only the area "within the immediate control" of the person arrested, meaning the area from which he might gain possession of a weapon or destructible evidence. Any other search of the surrounding area requires a search warrant.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
Majority	Stewart, joined by Warren, Douglas, Harlan, Brennan, Marshall
Concurrence	Harlan
Dissent	White, joined by Black
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV U.S. Const. amend. XIV

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Chimel v. California

Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752 (1969), was a 1969 United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that police officers arresting a person at his home could not search the entire home without a search warrant, but that police may search the area within immediate reach of the person without a warrant.^[1] The rule on searches incident to a lawful arrest within the home is now known as the Chimel rule.^[2]

Ronald M. George, the young deputy attorney general who unsuccessfully argued California's case, ultimately became chief justice of the Supreme Court of California.^[3]