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Oregon Appeals Court Protects Against Unreasonable In State of Oregon v. Vondehn, and State of Oregon v. Ayles, the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed lower courts' refusals to suppress evidence (a) that was the result of unlawful questioning by police, and (b) that was obtained after police improperly retained an identification card. In Vondehn the Appeals Court upheld the protection against illegal interrogation by suppressing evidence from a police search of a backpack found in the trunk of a car after a Washington County traffic stop. Vondehn was a passenger in the car. After initial questioning, Vondehn was arrested on an outstanding arrest warrant, unrelated to the traffic stop. After he was placed under arrest, handcuffed and put in the back seat of a police car, the police asked for his consent to search a backpack, then found marijuana. The police then read the Miranda warnings. The Oregon Court of Appeals held that the pre-Miranda interrogation of Vondehn was unlawful and that police questioning and subsequent search were a continuation of the illegal interrogation, since nothing about the initial arrest tied him to the backpack (Associated Press, April 30). In Ayles, another car-passenger case, police questioned the defendant after a routine traffic stop. After requesting Ayles to hand over his identification card, an Oregon state trooper questioned the suspect while retaining the card in the patrol car. The Court of Appeals ruled that the "taking and retaining of defendant's identification amounted to an unlawful seizure." Under the Oregon Constitution, an officer may lawfully "seize" someone if there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or there is an immediate threat to officer safety. In this instance, the officer testified that neither circumstance was present (Oregon Judicial Department Appellate Court Opinions, June 25). |
September, 2008
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People's Police Report
#45 Table of Contents
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