State v. Pilgrim, 369 P.3d 434

Keizer PD received a tip that a blue Acura was circling a block and acting as if occupants intended to steal a car; Officer Bamford stopped the vehicle.
Driver had no license and gave consent to search; officer found "jiggler keys" on the driver during a pat-down.
Sergeant Copeland noted the car’s ignition switch was removed. Defendant sat in the front passenger seat.
When asked if anything in the car belonged to him, defendant silently reached in and took a bag of candy from the car.
Officer Bamford then located a black bag at defendant’s seat, opened it without a warrant, and found tools, marijuana, and jiggler keys; defendant then admitted ownership of the bag.
Defendant moved to suppress evidence under Article I, section 9 (unreasonable searches) and Article I, section 12 (compelled statements); trial court denied suppression, defendant pleaded guilty conditionally and appealed.

Issue	State's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the warrantless search of defendant’s bag violated Article I, §9	Defendant relinquished possessory/privacy interests by retrieving candy when questioned, so search was lawful	Defendant did not unequivocally relinquish interest in the bag by taking candy; no warrant exception applied	Court reversed: defendant did not unequivocally relinquish protected interests; search violated Art I, §9

State v. Owens, 302 Or 196 (recognizes Article I, §9 protection against unreasonable state intrusions on property)
State v. Bridewell, 306 Or 231 (warrantless searches are per se unreasonable absent limited exceptions)
State v. Tucker, 330 Or 85 (state bears burden to prove warrantless search did not violate defendant’s protected interest)
State v. Linville, 190 Or App 185 (78 P3d 136) (defendant’s explicit verbal disclaimer of interest can constitute relinquishment of protected interests)
State v. Edgell, 153 Or App 108 (inaction or silence in face of a search does not necessarily constitute relinquishment)
State v. Cook, 332 Or 601 (state’s burden to prove relinquishment of constitutionally protected interests)
State v. Warner, 136 Or App 475 (review standard for denial of suppression motion when facts are uncontested)