State v. Barker

DUNCAN, P. J.,

In this criminal case, defendant appeals the trial court’s judgment convicting her of one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, ORS 475.894. Defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress evidence obtained when a police officer searched her purse without a warrant. The trial court ruled that the officer’s search of defendant’s purse was a valid search incident to arrest. For the reasons explained below, we conclude that the officer’s search was not a valid search incident to arrest because the officer did not have probable cause to…