People v. Belvin

In People v. Belvin (1969) 275 Cal.App.2d 955, the officers went to the address of the defendant, a parole violator. They arrested her in her bedroom and took her for security reasons to the living room. In the meanwhile her purse, which was left on the floor of the bedroom, was searched by one of the officers in the bedroom. The search yielded several rolls of coins and two balloons of heroin in the zippered compartment of the purse. In upholding the validity of the search as incident to a lawful arrest, the Belvin court reasoned that an arrestee's personal articles such as a purse, wallet or coat actually in use, though not necessarily on his person at the moment of the arrest, serve as possible sources of concealed weapons and of evidentiary items. Their search thus serves the dual function of security and legitimate investigation. Based upon the above rationale the court concluded that "defendant's purse, apparently in use by her at the time of her arrest, legally amounted to an extension of her person and could be searched on her arrest. Whether the search of the purse took place before or after defendant's physical removal to another room we consider wholly fortuitous." ( People v. Belvin, supra, 275 Cal.App.2d at p. 959.)