State v. Bladorn

Under the Oregon Constitution Article I, section 9, an officer has authority to search for additional weapons incident to an arrest. State v. Anfield, 313 Or 554 (1992).

Defendant appealed a conviction judgement for three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm. Defendant assigned error to the trial court in denying motions to suppress evidence on finding two additional firearms upon a continued vehicle search. On appeal, Defendant argued that the location of the additional firearms was obtained through interrogation after he was handcuffed but before reading of Miranda warnings. In response, State argued that the officer’s search was permissible as a search incident to arrest because the officer believed the vehicle held additional concealed weapons, which would be allowed even if the statements obtained after defendant was handcuffed were not. Under the Oregon Constitution Article I, section 9, an officer has authority to search for additional weapons incident to an arrest. State v. Anfield, 313 Or 554 (1992). The Court of Appeals held that the search incident to the arrest required the additional guns be submitted as evidence because the officer had the authority to search for additional guns after one gun was found. Affirmed.