State v. Watkins

OPINION

ANDERSON, Justice.

The primary issue raised by this appeal is whether the warrantless police search of an automobile passenger compartment violated the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That question turns on whether the search was incident to a lawful arrest or was an unreasonable inventory search. The defendant, George Prince Watkins, Jr., was convicted of possession of an electrical device with a defaced serial number and possession of a controlled substance, both of which were products of the search in question and the object of a motion to suppress, which the trial court…