Glasco v. State, 513 So.2d 54 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 513 So.2d 61 (Ala. 1987). Cf., Clifton v. State, 501 So.2d 539 (Ala.Cr.App.), writ denied, 501 So.2d 541 (Ala. 1986) (search of arrestee's wallet). The search was further justified by the fact that the appellant's sudden movements gave the officers reason to believe that a weapon might be concealed within the purse or the large white plastic bag in the purse.
"In order to have a valid arrest, probable cause is required to exist before the arrest." Clifton v. State, 501 So.2d 539, 541 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 501 So.2d 541 (Ala. 1986). While all the evidence in this case indicates that the defendant voluntarily agreed to accompany the investigating officers for questioning, we do not justify the defendant's arrest on the basis of his consent, because the record does not show what occurred before Sheriff Aldridge and Investigator Carson arrived to take the defendant into custody.
Bradley v. State, 494 So.2d 750, 759 (Ala.Cr.App. 1985), affirmed, 494 So.2d 772 (Ala. 1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 923, 107 S.Ct. 1385, 94 L.Ed.2d 699 (1987). See also Clifton v. State, 501 So.2d 539, 541 (Ala. Cr. App), cert. denied, 501 So.2d 541 (Ala. 1986). The dispositive question of when McLemore was actually arrested was not addressed in the circuit court.
An arrest cannot be described as based upon probable cause if the contraband is discovered after the arrest, and the contraband is claimed to be the basis for the arrest. Clifton v. State, 501 So.2d 539, 541 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 501 So.2d 541 (Ala. 1986). The officers had no basis for knowing that appellant was involved in the drug buy until after they had frisked him and seized the marked money from his pants pocket.