State v. Totten

The defendant, appealing from a misdemeanor conviction of carrying a dangerous weapon without a license in violation of W.Va. Code, 61-7-1, challenges the validity of a warrantless police search of the passenger compartment of his automobile. The defendant also maintains the State’s proof did not establish that he carried the weapon “about his person” without the meaning of W.Va. Code, 61-7-1. We conclude that the police had probable cause for the search and therefore the revolver or pistol found in the defendant’s vehicle was admissible and that the evidence established a violation of the…