This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Special investigators were parked in a car beside a highway near northeastern Oklahoma. D drove past, headed west in his Ford coupe. Officer Malsed had arrested him about five months earlier for illegally transporting liquor; had seen him loading liquor into a car or truck in Joplin, Missouri, on at least two occasions during the preceding six months; and knew him to have a reputation for hauling liquor. As D passed, Malsed recognized both him and the Ford. He told Officer Creehan that D was the driver of the passing car. Both agents later testified that the car, but not especially its rear end, appeared to be 'heavily loaded' and 'weighted with something.' D increased his speed as he passed the officers. They gave chase at top speed, and D's car skidded on a curve onto the side of the road. As the agents got out of their car and walked back toward D, Malsed said, 'Hello, Brinegar, how much liquor have you got in the car?' or 'How much liquor have you got in the car this time?' D replied, 'Not too much,' or 'Not so much.' D admitted that he had twelve cases in the car. Malsed testified that one case, which was on the front seat, was visible from outside the car. D claimed that it was covered by a lap robe. Twelve more cases were found under and behind the front seat. D was placed under arrest. The district judge was of the opinion that 'the mere fact that the agents knew that D was engaged in hauling whiskey, even coupled with the statement that the car appeared to be weighted, would not be probable cause for the search of this car.' The judge thought there was no probable cause when the agents began the chase. He did hold that the voluntary admission made by Dafter his car had been stopped constituted probable cause for a search, regardless of the legality of the arrest and detention, and that therefore the evidence was admissible. At the trial, the court overruled D's renewal of the objection. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

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