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AZ: Denying ownership of a duffle bag that fell from a pickup truck was an abandonment

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The defendant was the target of a drive-by shooting in Tucson, and he gave chase to the vehicle involved, and stuff “spilled” out of the back of his pickup truck as he gave chase. After the chase was over, he and others were retrieving the stuff, and defendant claimed everything but a duffle bag. This constituted an abandonment. A higher state standard was rejected, which Arizona courts reserve for searches of the home. State v. Huerta, 2010 Ariz. App. LEXIS 19 (February 10, 2010)*: P17 Finally, this is not a situation in which the status quo could have been maintained. Any reasonable person would anticipate that the police would not have left the unclaimed bag on the side of the street, but would have taken custody of it and routinely opened and inspected it for indications of ownership as well as safety considerations...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 12, 2010 (boomark / email).