When a police officer opens the glove compartment of a stolen car and finds a cartridge clip in the trunk of the vehicle, what is the effect of this finding on the search warrant?

When the glove compartment was opened, the cartridge clip was in plain sight. The officer then had probable cause to believe that the occupants of the automobile might have a dangerous weapon. This placed the officer in the position envisioned by Justice Black in Preston v. United States, 376 U.S. 364, 84 S.Ct. 881, 11 L.Ed.2d 777 (1964), upon which appellant relies. There, the Justice said, "The rule allowing contemporaneous searches is justified, for example, by the need to seize weapons and other things which might be used to assault an officer or effect an escape, * * *". Preston, supra, at p. 367, 84

[448 F.2d 28]

S.Ct. at p. 883. Here, the appellant told the officer that the gun was located in the trunk and invited him to look at it. When the trunk door was opened, the stolen merchandise was in plain view.

[448 F.2d 28]