IN: State failed to even attempt to justify inventory; reversed

Defendant was arrested with his car on a parking lot for driving on a suspended DL, and the car had a broken windshield and bumper. The state failed to prove justification for an inventory, and it had the burden. Wilford v. State, 2016 Ind. LEXIS 142 (Feb. 26, 2016):

Both the Federal and State Constitutions protect Hoosiers’ private property from unreasonable State intrusion. And so, every inquiry into a warrantless impoundment and inventory search of a vehicle—like any other warrantless search or seizure—ultimately depends on whether those measures were reasonable based on the surrounding facts.

Here, police impounded Defendant’s car from a parking lot because he was arrested for driving while suspended, the registered owner (his sister) was not present, and the car’s windshield and bumper were damaged. Police then began to inventory the car and found a handgun inside, resulting in Defendant being charged with, and ultimately convicted of, carrying a handgun without a license.

Although such discretionary impounds may be permissible as part of law enforcement’s community-caretaking function, they require proof of, among other things, an established departmental procedure that authorized the impoundment. Fair v. State, 627 N.E.2d 427, 433 (Ind. 1993). Here, the State presented only the officer’s bare assertion that such a policy existed and that his actions were consistent with the policy—but just as in Fair, there was no evidence of the particulars of that policy. We therefore hold that the State failed to prove an established departmental procedure as Fair requires, and thus failed to prove that the impoundment was reasonable. Consequently, the search that followed was unreasonable and the handgun obtained pursuant to the invalid search was inadmissible. We accordingly reverse Defendant’s handgun conviction.