State v. Sears

Defendant appeals his conviction for possession of a forged instrument, contending that the trial court erred in refusing to grant his motion to suppress certain evidence. The sole issue is whether the search of a manila envelope in which defendant’s personal property was placed when he was booked into jail after his arrest on a different charge seven weeks earlier constitutes a lawful search incident to arrest. Because we hold that it does not, we reverse and remand.

On February 9, 1983, defendant was stopped for a traffic violation. He was unable to produce a driver’s license but, when asked…