Opinion ID: 1991559
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Heading: Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence: Inventory Searches.

Text: The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433, 439, 93 S.Ct. 2523, 2527, 37 L.Ed.2d 706, 713 (1973). There is a consensus in construing this directive that, except for a few carefully defined classes of cases, a search of private property without valid consent is unreasonable unless it has been authorized by a warrant issued upon probable cause. Id.; South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 381-82, 96 S.Ct. 3092, 3103, 49 L.Ed.2d 1000, 1012 (1976) (Powell, J., concurring); Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 528-29, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 1731, 18 L.Ed.2d 930, 935 (1967). One well-recognized exception to the warrant clause is a vehicle inventory search. Colorado v. Bertine, 479 U.S. 367, 371, 107 S.Ct. 738, 741, 93 L.Ed.2d 739, 745 (1987); Opperman, 428 U.S. at 369-71, 96 S.Ct. at 3097, 49 L.Ed.2d at 1005-06. This exception responds to the practical problems arising when police remove a vehicle's operator and are then left to care for that vehicle. In such circumstances, police act in a caretaking capacity rather than as criminal investigators. State v. Jackson, 542 N.W.2d 842, 845 (Iowa 1996); see Opperman, 428 U.S. at 369, 96 S.Ct. at 3097, 49 L.Ed.2d at 1005. The legality of an inventory search depends on two overlapping inquiries: the validity of the impoundment and the scope of the inventory. Jackson, 542 N.W.2d at 845. If either is unreasonable, the search violates the Fourth Amendment and evidence discovered in the search must be suppressed. Id.