Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- If you leave your purse behind -- someone can look inside.
That's the ruling yesterday from the Utah Supreme Court. The court made the ruling when considering whether an officer had the right to search a purse found in a minivan that went off the road in Box Elder County. Inside Tanja Rynhart's purse was a bag of cocaine. She was later charged with drug possession.
The Supreme Court sided with prosecutors, who argued Rynhart had NO guarantee of privacy for her purse. She had left her van unattended with no note on it and the doors unlocked.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
