IA: Two finding defective inventory due to police investigative motive

“In any event, it is clear that Officer Carter failed to remove the license plates and registration receipt before impounding the car. Because the officer overlooked the legislatively imposed requirements for the impoundment, it appears he was motivated solely by an investigatory purpose. See Huisman, 544 N.W.2d at 439. We therefore conclude the impoundment was invalid and, accordingly, the inventory search was invalid.” State v. Juarez-Martinez, 2017 Iowa App. LEXIS 65 (Jan. 25, 2017).

The state’s proffer of the inventory exception fails: “We conclude the conflicting testimony of the officers, as well as the timeline of events surrounding the search of the truck, indicate the officers searched the truck for the sole purpose of investigating for suspected criminal activity beyond the scope of the search warrant. Thus, we find the inventory exception does not apply to overcome the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement due to the vague impound policies and improper motive.” However, the search was otherwise valid with probable cause under the automobile exception. Defendant’s motion to extend time on the motion to suppress should have been granted because some of the facts were revealed late to him. State v. Baudler, 2017 Iowa App. LEXIS 63 (Jan. 25, 2017).

This entry was posted in Inventory, Motion to suppress. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.