Commonwealth v. Henry

WIEAND, Judge:

Where a police officer has stopped a vehicle for speeding and has observed marijuana in a box which he has seized and opened upon suspicion that the motorist was attempting to remove a gun, does the right to examine the contents of the box continue after the police officer has arrested the motorist and placed him securely in the police vehicle? The trial court held that the right to conduct a warrantless examination of the contents of the box terminated with the motorist’s arrest and, therefore, suppressed additional contraband discovered during a warrantless examination of the…