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CA8: Search may be premised on arrest for driving on a suspended license then a dog sniff giving PC

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was seen driving without a license so that justified her stop. Upon that, a drug dog was called which alerted to the car, and that was probable cause for its search. United States v. Engler, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 7522 (8th Cir. April 9, 2008).* Vehicle was properly impounded to protect it from vandalism or theft after his arrest. In fact, defendant even said before the suppression hearing that the police had a duty to protect it. Facing two theories, the court follows the one that permitted the impoundment, despite no formal policy put into evidence except by the officer's testimony. United States v. Smith, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 7525 (3d Cir. April 9, 2008): In the face of the precedent that we have cited we must decide which of the two lines of cases to follow, the Coccia line focusing on the reasonableness of the vehicle impoundment for a community caretaking purpose, or the Proctor line favoring the more structured approach to the validity of such impoundments under the Fourth Amendment requiring that there be standardized police procedures governing impoundments that the police follow...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 10, 2008 (boomark / email).