State v. Keaton

This appeal presents the question of whether a police officer has a legal right to enter an overturned car in order to obtain registration and insurance information for the vehicle, without first requesting permission, or allowing defendant an opportunity to retrieve the documents himself.

In this case, while entering an overturned car to obtain information required to complete an accident report mandated by statute, a trooper observed a handgun and a small amount of marijuana. Defendant was arrested and subsequently charged and indicted by a grand jury for second-degree unlawful possession of…