State v. Fix

The state appeals an order suppressing evidence obtained as the result of a warrantless search of defendant’s purse. We hold that the search was justified under the “automobile exception” to the warrant requirement, see State v. Brown, 301 Or 268, 721 P2d 1357 (1986), and State v. Bennett, 301 Or 299, 721 P2d 1375 (1986), and reverse and remand.

On the evening of September 13, 1985, a Cottage Grove police officer investigated a complaint that two men armed with pistols had threatened another man. The victim told the officer that the two men had pointed guns at him and that one of them had…