GA: While state database showed def’s car uninsured, his proof of insurance on phone app was enough to show lack of PC for impoundment

The officer here was running LPNs to see if cars passing through an intersection were insured. Defendant’s car came back uninsured based on the state database. Once stopped, however, defendant showed an app on his phone that showed he obtained insurance a week earlier. The trial court found that the vehicle should not have been impounded at that point. “Applying the appropriate standard of review, we must accept the trial court’s finding that Lewis provided the officer with valid proof of insurance at the outset of the traffic stop.” Thus, while the stop was with reasonable suspicion, the court has to find a lack of probable cause to seize and inventory the car. State v. Lewis, 2018 Ga. App. LEXIS 113 (Feb. 21, 2018).

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