State v. Porter

Defendant appeals his conviction for possession of a controlled substance, ORS 475.992, asserting that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained during a warrantless search of his automobile. He argues that, after discovering evidence of an open container violation, ORS 811.170, an officer has no authority to search an individual’s car for additional evidence of the same offense. We affirm.

During the afternoon of September 29, 1988, Springfield Police Officer Umenhofer noticed defendant, because he was driving an automobile that was similar to Umenhofer’s. When…