In what circumstances will a police officer ask a suspect where they found a knife at the scene of a crime?

In People v. Cole (1985) 165 Cal.App.3d 41, 51, the defendant was armed with a knife during an attempted kidnapping before running off, then, shortly thereafter, he jumped into another person's car and was let off at a house. He was seen at an apartment complex and when finally apprehended, did not have the knife. (Id. at p. 51.) He was asked where the knife was and said that he had gotten rid of it. (Ibid.) The appellate court held, "[The o]fficer's question to [the defendant] concerning the whereabouts of the knife was reasonably prompted by a concern for public safety. . . . [The officer] was . . . confronted with the immediate necessity of ascertaining where the knife was. Until the knife was discovered, it posed a threat to public safety." (Id. at p. 52.) The appellate court did not appear bothered by the fact that the defendant could have left the knife in the car or the house or one of the apartments. Similarly, in People v. Gilliard (1987) 189 Cal.App.3d 285, 287, after a shooting, defendant was arrested for being drunk in public near the scene of the shooting. No gun was found at the scene or on the defendant and an officer who suspected that defendant had been involved in the shooting asked him where the gun was. (Ibid.) The defendant said he had thrown it into bushes near the scene of the shooting. (Ibid.) In rejecting the defendant's assertion that the gun could have been locked in a house or car or placed somewhere out of the reach of the public, the appellate court concluded, "[The officer's] question was specifically directly only to the recovery of the missing gun. The scene of the crime and arrest were in a

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