Which of the following is a requirement for a search incident to an arrest?

• A. Lawful custodial arrest
• B. Substantially contemporaneous search
• C. Area searched currently accessible to arrestee (at least to some degree)
• D. All of the above

Answer: (D)

A search incident to arrest is tightly limited to three basic conditions. First, there must be a lawful custodial arrest—the person is in custody for the purposes of enforcing law, not just stopped briefly. Second, the search must be substantially contemporaneous with the arrest, meaning it happens at or very near the time of the arrest so the officer’s safety and the preservation of evidence can be addressed immediately. Third, the area searched must be within the arrestee’s immediate control or reach at the time of the arrest—the “grabbable” area or the space the arrestee could access or move within.

When all three conditions are met, the search is permissible as a search incident to arrest. If any of these elements are missing—for example, the arrest isn’t lawful, or the search occurs long after the arrest, or the area searched is well beyond what the arrestee could reach—the search would not be valid under this rule.