GA: State did not prove valid inventory, and no inventory policy was even offered

State did not prove valid inventory, and no inventory policy was admitted by the state to support it. Reversed. Shaw v. State, 324 Ga. App. 670, 751 S.E.2d 478 (2013). Lexis overview:

The officer searched the vehicle incident to defendant’s arrest, not incident to its impoundment, but there was no justification for the arm’s reach search which the officer undertook immediately after arresting and securing defendant and his passenger. Also, there was no evidence that defendant’s vehicle was parked in a manner which might have presented a hazard to traffic or that he was given an opportunity to make alternative arrangements for the disposition of his vehicle. Moreover, no evidence showed that the officer completed his department’s standard inventory form listing the items he seized from the vehicle in connection with the impoundment of the vehicle. Finally, there was no evidence of a departmental towing policy, or any evidence showing that defendant’s mother’s estimated time of arrival to pick up the vehicle rather than having it impounded was other than near term. Thus, the State failed to establish that impoundment of defendant’s vehicle was reasonably necessary as a matter of fact.