CHAPTER 422
AN ACT TO AMEND SUBCHAPTER I, CHAPTER 23, TITLE 11, DELAWARE CODE, TO BROADEN, CLARIFY AND MODERNIZE THE STATE SEARCH AND SEIZURE LAW.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware:
Section 1. Section 2301, Title 11, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by striking said section and substituting a new Section 2301 as follows:
§ 2301. Necessity of compliance with statute
No person shall search any person, house, building, conveyance, place or other thing without the consent of the owner (or occupant, if any) unless such search is authorized by and made pursuant to statute or the Constitution of the United States.
Section 2. Section 2302, Title 11, Delaware Code, is amended by striking said section and substituting a new Section 2302 as follows:
§ 2302. Search without warrant in hot pursuit
A search of a person, house, building, conveyance, place or other thing may be made without a warrant if the search is made for a person hotly pursued provided the pursuer has probable cause to believe that such person has committed a felony or a misdemeanor.
Section 3. Section 2303, Title 11, Delaware Code, is amended by striking said section and substituting a new Section 2303 as follows:
§ 2303. Search without warrant incident to arrest
A search of a person, house, building, conveyance, place or other thing may be made without a warrant if:
(1) The search is made incidental to and contemporaneous with a lawful arrest;
(2) The search is made in order to find and seize:
(a) the fruits of a crime; (b) the means by which the crime was committed; (c) weapons and other things to effect an escape from arrest or custody; and (d) evidentiary matter pertaining to the commission of a crime.
Section 4. Section 2304, Title 11, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by striking the phrase "any house, place, conveyance, or person" from said section and substituting in lieu thereof the phrase "any person, house, building, conveyance, place or other thing."
Section 5. Section 2305, Title 11, Delaware Code, is amended by striking said section and substituting a new Section 2305 as follows:
§ 2305. Objects of search warrant
A warrant may authorize the search of any person, house, building, conveyance, place or other things for any of the following:
(1) Papers, articles, or things of any kind which were instruments of or were used in a criminal offense, the escape therefrom or the concealment of said offense or offenses;
(2) Property obtained in the commission of a crime, whether the crime was committed by the owner or occupant of the house, building, place or conveyance to be searched or by another;
(3) Papers, articles, or things designed to be used for the commission of a crime and not reasonably calculated to be used for any other purpose;
(4) Papers, articles, or things the possession of which is unlawful;
(5) Papers, articles, or things which are of an evidentiary nature pertaining to the commission of a crime or crimes;
(6) Persons for whom a warrant of arrest has been issued.
Section 6. Any action, case, prosecution, trial or any other legal proceeding in progress under or pursuant to the previous wording of the sections amended by this Act, no matter what the stage of the proceeding, shall be preserved and shall not become illegal or terminated upon the effective date of this Act. For purposes of such proceedings in progress the prior law shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 7. If any section, subsection, phrase, sentence, words or word shall be declared unconstitutional by the Superior Court or the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware of any Court of the United States, any other sections, subsections, phrases, sentences or words shall remain in full force and effect.
Approved August 1, 1968.