Lawrence A. Smith v. United States

Appellant contends that certain evidence introduced against him was obtained by an unlawful search.

Portland, Oregon, police received a telephone call from the Seattle, Washington, office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation informing them that appellant and two others had robbed a bank in Seattle and were believed to have driven to the Portland area in a 1959 Ford carrying Washington license AKY 498. The Portland police located the automobile in a motel parking lot and determined from the manager that the occupants of the automobile were registered in a particular room. Appellant responded to their knock on the door. They arrested him and searched the room, discovering a part of the loot from the bank robbery.

We conclude that the arresting officers had “reasonable cause for believing the person arrested” had committed a felony, and appellant’s arrest without a warrant was therefore valid under Ore.Rev.Stat. § 133.310(3). The search of the motel room was incident to that arrest and hence lawful. Cf. Reed v. United States, 364 F.2d 630, 632-633 (9th Cir. 1966). See also Travis v. United States, 362 F.2d 477, 481 (9th Cir. 1966).

We have examined appellant’s other…