{"id":1836,"date":"2008-04-06T18:51:08","date_gmt":"2008-02-29T06:11:10","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-02-29T06:11:10","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=1836","title":{"rendered":"Inventory search without an impoundment was invalid"},"content":{"rendered":"

A classic case of a bogus inventory as a general search without impoundment is State v. Griffin<\/a>, 2008 La. App. LEXIS 242 (1st Cir. February 8, 2008), reversing a life sentence:<\/p>\n

The facts and circumstances of this case indicate that the “inventory search” of the defendant’s vehicle was actually a pretext to search for illegal drugs. Although the officers recorded information about the contents of the vehicle, they made absolutely no attempt to determine whether an inventory search could have been avoided. There is no indication in the record that the vehicle could not have remained safely at the place where it was stopped. The purported “inventory search” was conducted on location immediately upon the defendant’s arrest. It is not clear whether a tow truck was called before the search commenced or whether one was ever called at all. There is no evidence that the defendant was asked if he consented to the search, if the vehicle contained valuables or if he would consent to the agency’s failure to afford him the protection of an inventory search.<\/p>\n

If the defendant could have easily made arrangements for the vehicle other than having it impounded, or if he had been willing to waive his rights against the law enforcement agency for failure to guard against loss of his valuables, a justification for the inventory search would not have existed. See Killcrease<\/em>, 379 So.2d at 739. Because the officers failed to make efforts to determine whether the impoundment of the vehicle could have been avoided, it is clear that the motivation for the search was not to protect the defendant’s loss of property or to protect the agency against a claim for failure to guard against such a loss. In this case, the conduct of the police indicates that the officers did not conduct a true inventory search of the defendant’s car. Instead, under pretext of an inventory, the officers set out on a warrantless search of the vehicle without probable cause. Thus, the State has not borne its heavy burden of proving there legitimately existed, in this instance, an inventory search exception to the warrant requirement. See Carey<\/em>, 499 So.2d at 288.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Search warrant was based on probable cause of risk of injury to a child. Conviction for sexual assault is affirmed. State v. Kaminski<\/a>, 106 Conn. App. 114, 940 A.2d 844 (2008).*<\/p>\n

State court’s determination that plaintiff’s car’s impoundment was constitutional and justified precluded federal litigation of the same issue. McDonald v. Kirkpatrick, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14545 (W.D. Wash. February 27, 2008).*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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