State v. May

In State v. May, 608 A.2d 772 (Me. 1992), a police officer opened a Velcro-fastened wallet inadvertently left in his patrol car by a man who had been arrested and released. Id. at 774-75. The officer knew the owner's identity and had no reason to open the wallet in order to return it. Id. at 776 n.3. The court ruled the wallet had not been abandoned and the officer's opening it could not be justified as a search of abandoned property. Id. at 776. In May, the defendant had no opportunity to claim his wallet before it was searched. Id. at 773.