State v. Sawyer

The state appeals from an order of the district court, Broadwater County, suppressing evidence obtained in an inventory search of defendant’s automobile.

Defendant was apprehended August 14, 1976, after Undersheriff Michael Walrod observed him making an illegal turn on the streets of Townsend, Montana. Officer Walrod recognized defendant and proceeded with Ted Ingersoll, a forest service director who was accompanying the officer, to look for defendant. They found defendant’s car at a bar parking lot and noticed the car had a ten-day registration sticker which had expired. The officer found…