Opinion ID: 1154772
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the search as an inventory search

Text: Since Officer Luke performed a constitutionally valid search incident to a lawful arrest, I will refrain from engaging in an in-depth analysis of the propriety of his search as an inventory search. I would note, however, that under both federal and state case authorities, the issue is far from the slam dunk variety described by the majority. The district court denied validity to the inventory search on grounds that there were no standardized criteria within the Nevada Highway Patrol to guide Officer Luke and other highway patrol officers in conducting an inventory, and that in any event, the search was performed for exploratory or investigative purposes rather than to inventory and protect Greenwald's property. The majority on appeal only addresses and affirms the finding of the lower court on the latter point. I will therefore simply note as to the former, that both testimonial and documentary evidence reveals that the Nevada Highway Patrol did have standardized criteria for conducting inventory searches. The law on the subject of standardized criteria is addressed in substantial detail in Florida v. Wells, 495 U.S. 1, 110 S.Ct. 1632, 109 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989) (police officers have degree of latitude in determining scope of inventory search where guided by standard criteria and the basis for the search is something other than suspicion of criminal activity). The overriding theme underlying the majority's ruling in the instant case is that the extensive scope of Officer Luke's search reveals the inventory rationale as a ruse for an investigative rummaging for evidence of a crime. Although the issue of the validity of Officer Luke's search as a lawful inventory search presents a close question, there is a substantial body of law that, when applied to the facts before us, supplies a basis for sustaining the validity of the search. For example, the court in People v. Bray, 122 Idaho 375, 834 P.2d 892 (Ct.App.1992), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 1272, 122 L.Ed.2d 667 (1993), held that motorcycle saddlebags are analogous to glove compartments and are subject to inventory searches. Moreover, the fact that Greenwald's saddlebags were unlocked and readily accessible to thieves or vandals supports the conclusion that an inventory of the saddlebags was reasonable. Bray, 834 P.2d at 898. It hardly needs mentioning that items other than toiletries may be placed in toiletry bags. Indeed, Greenwald stored LSD in the toiletry bag and if another individual had gained access to it, there is no way of knowing what type of criminal or injurious behavior could have resulted from its ingestion. In State v. Johnson, 745 P.2d 452 (Utah 1987), the Utah Supreme Court upheld an inventory search pursuant to a checklist that included areas in the locked trunk and under the hood of the vehicle. Although Officer Luke did not perform a complete inventory, the majority is wrong in declaring that Luke failed to produce an inventory. The officer produced both a vehicle inventory (tires, cushions, battery, etc.) and an inventory of personal items (goggles, radar detector, cups, leather holster, etc.) despite the fact that neither was complete. The foregoing provides at least skeletal ingredients for a cogent argument favoring the propriety of Officer Luke's efforts as an inventory search. It is, however, unnecessary to discuss further either the law or the facts pertaining to the subject of an inventory search as it relates to Greenwald's case since, in my view, the search was so clearly constitutional as an incident to Greenwald's lawful arrest. I nevertheless suggest that it is by no means certain under the existing case law that Officer Luke's search was unconstitutional even if it were scrutinized only from the perspective of an inventory search. For the reasons discussed above, I am unable to join in the majority opinion and expressly dissent therefrom because I consider the ruling neither justified by the law nor responsive to the needs of an increasingly threatened society.