Alvarez v. United States

SCHWELB, Associate Judge:

Alvarez appeals from his conviction of unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon, a switchblade knife, in violation of D.C. Code § 22-3214(a) (1989). He contends that the trial judge committed reversible error in denying his pretrial motion to suppress tangible evidence, that evidence consisting of the knife which was' recovered from his pocket during a search incident to his arrest. The arrest was predicated on Alvarez’ possession of an open can of Budweiser beer on the sidewalk in the vicinity of a social club. Although a warning or a citation might perhaps have…