There was no need to inventory defendant\u2019s backpack when his car was being impounded where his grandmother was there and could have taken it away. Since a purpose of inventory is to prevent theft and false claims, turning the backpack over to his grandmother satisfied that requirement. \u201cThe seizure of an item that is not itself suspected to be dangerous, in circumstances where there is a responsible third party available to take possession of it, is inconsistent with the purposes underlying an inventory search. See Opperman, 428 U.S. at 369; Garcia, supra at 682. In a case such as this, there is simply no need to seize or safeguard items that are not instrumentalities of a crime or contraband, or where there is no suspicion that they may be a danger to the public.\u201d Commonwealth v. Nicoleau, 90 Mass. App. Ct. 518 (Oct. 14, 2016).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There was no need to inventory defendant\u2019s backpack when his car was being impounded where his grandmother was there and could have taken it away. Since a purpose of inventory is to prevent theft and false claims, turning the backpack … Continue reading