The State, Respondent v. Burnella Forrester, Petitioner

Summary

The court reversed because the officer exceeded the limited consent Forrester gave to look into her purse by taking possession of it, physically searching it, and tearing its lining. The court rejected the argument that the state constitution requires officers to advise citizens of a right to refuse a consensual search, holding instead that the absence of such an advisement is only one factor in the totality-of-the-circumstances voluntariness inquiry. The court also held that Forrester preserved the suppression issue because the trial judge made a final evidentiary ruling immediately before the cocaine was introduced.