State v. Owens

Defendant is charged with possession of a controlled substance. The state appeals from a pretrial order suppressing evidence seized from her purse at the time of her arrest.

Defendant was observed by a Payless Drug Store security officer taking several items from the shelves in the store and putting them in her purse. The security officer stopped her after she had left the store. At first she denied shoplifting but finally admitted it and returned to the store with the security officer. Defendant refused to empty her purse but did remove some perfume and earrings, which she admitted she had…