"incident to arrest" are limited to the area within the immediate control of the suspect. While police could reasonably search and seize evidence on or around the arrestee's person, police were prohibited from rummaging through the entire house without a search warrant. The Court emphasized the importance of warrants and probable cause as necessary bulwarks against government abuse: It overturned the trial court conviction by stating that the officers could reasonably search only "the petitioner's person and the area from within which he might have obtained either a weapon or something that could have been used as evidence against him." Criticism In a concurring/dissenting opinion in Riley v. California (2014), citing his dissent in Arizona v. Gant (2009), Justice Alito called Chimel'''s reasoning "questionable:" "I think it is a mistake to allow that reasoning to affect cases like these that concern the search of the person of arrestees." See also List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 395 References External links Search Incident to Arrest'', US Supreme Court Center. United States Supreme Court decisions that overrule a prior Supreme Court decision United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court United States Fourth Amendment case law 1969 in United States case law 1969 in California Legal history of California