Opinion ID: 1996136
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Scope of the Inventory

Text: Even the lawful custody of an impounded vehicle does not of itself dispense with the constitutional requirement of reasonableness in regard to the searches conducted thereafter. Instead, to pass constitutional muster, the search itself must be conducted pursuant to standard police procedures. Bertine, 479 U.S. at 375, 107 S.Ct. at 743. The rule that standardized criteria or established routine must exist as a precondition to a valid inventory search is designed to ensure that the inventory is not a pretext for a general rummaging in order to discover incriminating evidence. Florida v. Wells, 495 U.S. 1, 4, 110 S.Ct. 1632, 1635, 109 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990). In order to perform this function, the procedures must be rationally designed to meet the objectives that justify the search in the first place, Isom v. State (1992), Ind. App., 589 N.E.2d 245, and must sufficiently limit the discretion of the officer in the field. Wells, 495 U.S. at 4, 110 S.Ct. at 1635; People v. Galak, 80 N.Y.2d 715, 594 N.Y.S.2d 689, 610 N.E.2d 362 (1993). Searches in conformity with such regulations are reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Opperman, 428 U.S. at 376, 96 S.Ct. at 3100. Thus, to defeat a charge of pretext the State must establish the existence of sufficient regulations and that the search at issue was conducted in conformity with them. We noted earlier that in borderline cases where the impounded vehicle presented only a marginal threat the ultimate character of the transaction is often revealed by the manner in which the search was conducted. The record of this search presents several indicia of pretext which raise a question about whether it was conducted in good faith. The search was conducted not at the impoundment lot but at the scene of the crime. See State v. Badgett, 200 Conn. 412, 512 A.2d 160 (1986); State v. Jewell, 338 So.2d 633 (La. 1976). The inventory was conducted by an officer responsible for criminal investigations and not the custody of impounded property. See Rabadi, 541 N.E.2d at 275. There is no evidence that formal inventory sheets were completed. See Jewell, 338 So.2d at 639; Galak, 610 N.E.2d at 365. The officer apparently did not make note of Fair's personal affects, see R. at 116 & State's Exhibit 6, but instead focused only on the contraband. See Badgett, 512 A.2d at 171; Manalansan, 415 A.2d at 311. Finally, it is not even clear from the record that the car actually ever was impounded. While any one of these facts probably would not render the search constitutionally defective, collectively they are very harmful to the State's position. [7] The fatal defect in this search is that the provisions of the Indianapolis Police Department's inventory policy are not established in sufficient detail by the record. Officer Wager testified only that we conduct an inventory search of the car to see what kind of items are in it. If there's anything valuable that might need to be placed in the property room or otherwise noted as being in the car. R. at 112. There was no testimony whatsoever that provided the particulars of the policy and, therefore, it is not possible for this Court to determine whether the seemingly suspicious circumstances which attended the search were in fact irregular. Without more, then, we can not conclude that the police department's inventory search was reasonable. [8] See Ex Parte Boyd, 542 So.2d 1276 (Ala.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 883, 110 S.Ct. 219, 107 L.Ed.2d 172 (1989); Galak, 610 N.E.2d at 365-66; cf. Rabadi, 541 N.E.2d at 275 (The circumstances surrounding the intrusion must also indicate that the search was part of established and routine department procedures.). The State did not carry its burden of establishing that the search of Fair's car was reasonable and not a mere pretext. We reverse the conviction and direct the trial court to grant Fair's motion to suppress. The case is remanded for possible retrial. DeBRULER, DICKSON and SULLIVAN, JJ., concur. GIVAN, J., dissents with separate opinion.