Grant H. Thomas claims, reports of shootings made him think, packing heat was appropriate. Apparently the court house near Beaverton, Oregon lacks metal detectors, but the gun was spotted by an undercover detective when the semi-automatic fell out of the waistband of his pants, and Mr. Thomas retrieved it and stuck it back in his pants while he was in the municipal parking lot. Mr. Thomas was able to get on the witness stand before security was able to react.
Oh, and when the police searched his car, which they are entitled to do pursuant to a lawful arrest they found a loaded AR-10, .308 caliber rifle.
Good one.
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I think your statement that police are "entitled" to search a car "pursuant to a lawful arrest" goes a little too far in light of Arizona v. Gant. Given that this guy was arrested well away from his car, the search probably needed the defendant's consent before it was legal. (I say probably because there may be facts not in the news article justifying a search.)
ReplyDeleteNow the guy is busted for growing pot at home, all because of a search of his car that, at least from the story, may not have been legal. I bet even a bad defense lawyer will have some fun with this case.
Thank you for your comment, you raise an interesting point. While I make calls on reading between the lines--which is part of the point of the blawg, newspaper articles are fairly cursory--the insight, here, is that the report says he was seen by an undrcover cop in parking lot, presumably getting out of his car, the handgun falling from his waistband. I presume this fact pattern sufficed in Oregon for either a search of the vehicle pursuant to the arrest or the grant of a search warrant. OBviously, you raise a terrific point which I'm sure will be the subject of the suppression motion.
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