Mayfield v. United States

REILLY, Associate Judge:

Appellant’s conviction of unlawful possession of narcotics 1 is based entirely on a police officer’s discovery in appellant’s car of an envelope containing a small quantity of marijuana. The only question presented by this appeal is whether the envelope and its contents should have been received as evidence in the face of a defense contention that these items were obtained by a search and seizure contravening fourth amendment standards.

The record shows that on December 16, 1968, police were making routine checks of automobiles cruising in a downtown area where reports…