State of Oregon, Respondent on Review v. Lois Marie Caraher, Petitioner on Review

Summary

The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the warrantless search of defendant’s purse and wallet was valid under article I, section 9 because it was reasonably related to the possession offense and justified by the circumstances of the arrest. The court rejected automatic application of the federal rule permitting a full search incident to any custodial arrest and adopted an independent Oregon approach requiring consideration of the offense and the factual circumstances. Chief Justice Lent, dissenting, would have required a warrant to search the closed purse after it was beyond defendant’s reach; Justice Campbell, concurring in the result, would have continued applying the federal search-incident rule.