State v. Heckathorne

Defendants appeal their convictions for possession of a precursor substance with intent to manufacture a controlled substance, ORS 475.967, assigning error to the trial court’s denial of their motion to suppress evidence. They argue that law enforcement officials performed an unlawful search when, during an inventory of the contents of defendants’ automobile, and without a warrant, they seized and then later opened and tested the contents of a metal gas cylinder containing, as it turned out, anhydrous ammonia, a precursor substance used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Defendants…