TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Oct 8, 2025

The Tennessee Supreme Court today upheld the conviction of Ambreia Washington, ruling that the warrantless seizure of a firearm from his vehicle did not violate the U.S. Constitution. In a unanimous opinion authored by Chief Justice Jeff Bivins, the court found that the handgun was properly seized under the “plain view exception,” which allows law enforcement officers to confiscate incriminating evidence seen in plain sight without a warrant. In this case, a Jackson Police Department officer responding to a car accident saw a handgun in the passenger seat and later learned that Washington was a convicted felon. The court concluded that the firearm was lawfully seized and admissible at trial. Justice Dwight E. Tarwater wrote a concurring opinion addressing the plain view doctrine’s “immediately apparent” requirement and its relationship to the Second, Fourth and Fifth Amendments.