State v. Thompson

After the trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress evidence — drugs that a police officer found in defendant’s purse and incriminating statements that she made thereafter — defendant was convicted of possession of methamphetamine. ORS 475.894. On appeal, she argues that, although she consented to the search that led to the discovery of the drugs and the subsequent statements, the consent occurred during an unlawful stop. The state maintains that the consent occurred during an encounter that was not a stop, but mere conversation and, for that reason, the encounter did not violate…