State v. Stearns

Defendant appeals, challenging his convictions on four counts of identity theft, ORS 165.800, and one count of first-degree forgery, ORS 165.013. He argues that the traffic stop that led to the discovery of the evidence of those crimes was unlawful. Specifically, defendant contends that the arresting officer lacked objective probable cause to stop the vehicle in which defendant was a passenger because ORS 803.550, which prohibits “illegal alteration” of registration plates, 1 is not violated when a plate holder or frame partially or completely obscures the word “Oregon” on the plate. We agree…