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E.D.Cal.: Tow here was to cause an inventory, and it was unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The inventory search of defendant’s was without any justification, and it was apparent that the officers were seeking to search the car rather than inventory it. “Defendant claims that after they called their own tow, the officers said words to the effect of ‘once he gets here, we'll be able to search the car.’” At the minimum, the police had a dual motive to tow and search. United States v. Cline, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22469 (E.D. Cal. February 18, 2011): The Government admits that the police officers could not point to any specific criminal activity by the Defendant which gave the officers probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of the car. Nor does the Court find persuasive the Government's argument that dual motives for the inventory search existed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 09, 2011 (boomark / email).