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OR: Search of passenger's purse without justification even by consent was invalid

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant who was illegally detained as a passenger in a car could not be asked for consent to search her purse, so the search was invalid. State v. Corbett, 2008 Ore. App. LEXIS 1700 (November 12, 2008): Defendant argues, and the state does not dispute, that she was illegally detained following the lawful stop for the traffic violation. We agree. When the officer began the search of the car, the officer did not have reasonable suspicion that defendant had engaged in a crime, yet she was not permitted to leave the scene, and the officer was not engaged in any steps relative to the investigation of the traffic infraction. See State v. Highley, 219 Ore. App. 100, 110, 180 P3d 1230 (2008) (illegal stop where defendant was passenger in a car that was legally stopped and record did not support reasonable suspicion that defendant was involved in criminal activity); see also State v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 22, 2008 (boomark / email).