Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

Yes. Assuming the search warrant was properly issued, and the search was properly conducted, the police are not required to close their eyes to evidence of other crimes they discover while executing the search warrant.

It actually happens a lot ... a search for drugs turns up weapons, a search for weapons turns up stolen property from a burglary, etc.

The legal theory is that ... since the officers had a right to be where they were (because of the search warrant) anything else they see while properly within the scope of the warrant is in "plain view."

BUT - They have to be "within the scope of the search warrant."

That means, for example, if the search warrant was to search for a stolen shotgun, and the officers open a cigar box and find marihuana, the marihuana cannot be used as evidence. Why? Because there is no way the shotgun could have been in the cigar box. Searching the cigar box was not "within the scope" of a search for a shotgun. That makes the marihuana inadmissible.

The reverse is not true: If they are searching for marihuana, and find an illegal shotgun in the closet, the illegal shotgun can be used as evidence because the officer found it "in plain view" while the officer was where he had a right to be.