State v. Walker

The state appeals, assigning error to the trial court’s suppression of evidence discovered in a bubble bottle during an inventory of defendant’s car. ORS 138.060(3). The state argues that the warrantless search of the closed bubble container was valid because the container “announced its contents” to the officer. Alternatively, the state argues that the search of the container was valid under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement. We conclude that the container in question did not announce its contents, and that the automobile exception is not applicable to these circumstances.…