Is a search of the trunk of a car during a search for illegal firearms valid?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Shaw, 21 Cal.App.3d 710, 98 Cal.Rptr. 724 (Cal. App. 1971):

'Following a lawful arrest for a crime involving firearms it was appropriate[21 Cal.App.3d 715] to make a search of the other parts of the car for other guns and ammunition. The drugs found in the trunk, though not the object of the search, could not be overlooked, and were properly seized. (People v. Jackson (1966) 241 Cal.App.2d 189, 50 Cal.Rptr. 437.)'

A similar holding was made in People v. Kelley, 3 Cal.App.3d 146, 151, 83 Cal.Rptr. 287, 290, as follows: 'Furthermore, the arrest is not invalidated by the fact that the officer told defendant he was being arrested for drunk driving. It is unnecessary to decide whether the circumstances justified an arrest for that offense, since there were grounds to arrest for two different, though related, misdemeanors. The officer's announcement of the wrong offense did not make the arrest unlawful.'

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