State v. Petri

Defendant appeals his conviction for possession of a controlled substance. See former ORS 475.992 (2003), renumbered as ORS 475.840 (2005). He assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence found during a warrantless search following a traffic stop. We agree with defendant that the state did not demonstrate any valid basis for a police search of defendant’s closed sunglasses case, in which a police officer found methamphetamine. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.

We review the trial court’s legal conclusions regarding the constitutionality of a search for errors…