Court Opinion

ID: 9677715
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:57:53.430599+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:57.938641
License: Public Domain

Blair Moody, Jr., J.
(concurring in result). I concur with the result reached by the majority opinion. However, in contrast to my brothers, I agree in general with the analysis formulated in the opinion of Chief Justice Coleman, with the exception of the last paragraph. The marijuana found on the front seat of the automobile was legally seized, whereas the marijuana discovered in the trunk was unlawfully obtained.
The defendant was in the process of going into the interior of the automobile in search of the registration and insurance certificates requested by an investigating officer. At that point the officer saw a knife that was in "plain view”. It was the initial discovery of the knife that reasonably led the officers to conduct the Terry1 search of the person.
Thereafter, it was reasonably appropriate and entirely consistent with the principles announced in Terry for the officer to conduct a brief search of the interior of the automobile for weapons, limited to areas in which a weapon could be concealed, yet accessible. The officer testified that he looked for *481another weapon. The contemporaneous search of the interior of the automobile, under the facts of this case, was confined in scope reasonably designed to discover additional hidden instruments for potential assault upon the police officers. Otherwise, the officers might be endangered if the occupant were permitted to re-enter the vehicle to gather requested information or to drive away at a later point. The initial discovery of the knife provided sufficient cause to permit the reasonable search for additional weapons.
Accordingly, discovery of the marijuana, visible under the driver’s armrest on the front seat of the car, gave probable cause for an arrest and was properly introduced into evidence.
However, a different question is presented regarding the marijuana discovered in the trunk of the car. The prosecution limits its argument to the effect that the marijuana discovered in the trunk of the car was validly seized pursuant to a proper inventory search following defendant’s arrest and a deputy’s decision to impound the subject vehicle.2 Relying upon South Dakota v Opperman, 428 US 364; 96 S Ct 3092; 49 L Ed 2d 1000 (1976), the prosecution contends that "[warrantless inventory searches of impounded cars are a proper caretaking function of the police”.
Yet, Opperman and the instant case involve clearly distinguishable fact situations. Accordingly, *482the reasoning set forth in Opperman does not apply. Therefore, the search of the trunk in the instant case was unreasonable and violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In Opperman, defendant’s illegally parked car was towed to a city impound lot where a police officer observed a watch on the car’s dashboard and other items of personal property located in the passenger area of the car. These items were visible from outside the car. A police officer inventoried the contents of the automobile using a standard inventory form pursuant to standard procedures of the local police department. Marijuana was found in the unlocked glove compartment. The impound lot in question had been the scene of thefts of items from cars and testimony revealed that it was "the old county highway yard. It ha[d] a wooden fence partially around part of it, and kind of a dilapidated wire fence, a makeshift fence.” 428 US 366, fn 1. Neither the owner, nor anyone else was present when the decision was made to impound the vehicle. The locked trunk of the vehicle was not searched.3
The plurality opinion in Opperman concluded that an inventory search without a warrant was not "unreasonable” and did not violate the United States Constitution.4 That opinion emphasized that *483the owner was not present to make other arrangements for the safekeeping of his property. Items of personal property were visible from the outside of the car. Furthermore, this was a routine administrative caretaking function performed pursuant to standard departmental procedures at the impound lot.
The concurring opinion of Justice Powell emphasized that "the search here was limited to an inventory of the unoccupied automobile and was conducted strictly in accord with the regulations of the Vermillion [South Dakota] Police Department”. 428 US 380. Justice Powell agreed that the constitution permits routine inventory searches. As he observed, "[inventory searches are conducted in accordance with established police department rules or policy and occur whenever an automobile is seized.” 428 US 383. "Upholding searches of this type provides no general license for the police to examine all the contents of such automobiles.” 428 US 380. In concluding that a warrant was unnecessary, he also noted that in the inventory search context the owner or occupant of the vehicle is not present, nor is there usually any real likelihood that he could be located within a reasonable period of time. Thus, according to Justice Powell, the concerns which prompted the Supreme Court of the United States to require a warrant in the context of other administrative searches5 are absent. Furthermore, *484and "[m]ore importantly, no significant discretion is placed in the hands of the individual officer”. 428 US 384.
The apparent difference between these opinions in Opperman is that the plurality opinion determines that a true inventory search is not "unreasonable” and thus is constitutionally permissible. The warrant clause6 is not implicated by this analysis. In contrast, Justice Powell concludes that the dictates of the warrant clause must be considered to determine whether a search is reasonable. In almost all cases, he notes, a search without a valid consent is unreasonable unless authorized by a search warrant.
In comparing the facts in Opperman and those in the instant case, significant differences emerge. In the instant case, an occupant of the car was present at the time of the asserted impoundment. He was not asked whether he wished the car to be inventoried.7 The impound lot in the case at bar was the underground garage of the sheriff’s department. The car was secured at this well-protected site. This was a far different type of lot than the one involved in Opperman and suggests that an inventory search conducted at the scene of the arrest or at a well-protected lot is not as reasonable in the instant situation since the car would have been secure in any event.8
*485Most importantly, no standard departmental policy was followed, and no inventory form was introduced. Although the officer testified as to his personal "standard” procedure, this procedure does not meet the requirements of reasonableness as suggested in Opperman. A standard departmental practice gives some assurance that the particular vehicle or part of the vehicle was not singled out for a search based upon an improper motive.9 Without a departmental policy, too much discretion is placed in the hands of a police officer. His decision to search may be an arbitrary one.
Whether the Opperman rationale or a more restrictive interpretation of the Michigan Constitution is to be adopted by this Court is left for future determination. Nevertheless, as one commentator concluded after reviewing Opperman:
"What is needed in the vehicle inventory context, then, * * * is not probable cause but rather a regularized set of procedures which adequately guard against arbitrariness.
"Inventories should not be upheld under Opperman unless the government shows that there exists an established reasonable procedure for safeguarding impounded vehicles and their contents and that the challenged police activity was essentially in conformance with that procedure. This means that a purported inventory should be held unlawful when it is not shown, 'for [instance], that standard inventory forms were completed and kept for future reference (showing presence or absence of valuables), nor that a place 6f *486safekeeping for valuables so secured was maintained.’ ” 2 LaFave, Search and Seizure, § 7.4, pp 576-577, quoting State v Jewell, 338 So 2d 633, 639 (La, 1976).
Accordingly, the procedures followed in this case fail even to measure up to Opperman’s requirements.
For the foregoing reasons, the marijuana that was found in the trunk should not have been admitted into evidence at trial. The error was not harmless. Accordingly, I agree with the result reached by the majority opinion that the decision of the Court of Appeals must be reversed.

 Terry v Ohio, 392 US 1; 88 S Ct 1868; 20 L Ed 2d 889 (1968).

 Plaintiff, in a brief footnote, concludes that the search of a trunk may have arguably been a search incident to defendant’s arrest. We decline to rule on that question as the argument is not relied upon or developed in this case. Nor does the plaintiff rely upon the "automobile exception” to the warrant requirement in order to justify the search of the trunk. Cf. United States v Ross, — US —; 102 S Ct 2157; — L Ed 2d — (1982) (search of closed container in automobile). Furthermore, Ross and the "automobile exception” do not address inventory searches. Id., p —, fn 11.
We assume for the purpose of discussion that the decision to impound the automobile was proper in this case.

 In the instant case the unlocked trunk was searched. In Opperman, the unlocked glove box was searched, but not the locked trunk. The fact that a trunk was searched in the instant case does not by itself suggest an unreasonable search. It could be argued that it is more reasonable to inventory an unlocked trunk than a locked trunk.

 US Const, Am IV provides:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
A number of courts have interpreted the search and seizure provi*483sions of state constitutions in a more restrictive manner and have refused to permit various inventory searches. E.g., State v Opperman, 247 NW2d 673 (SD, 1976), and State v Sawyer, 174 Mont 512; 571 P2d 1131 (1977) (inventory search restricted to safeguarding articles in plain view), Miller v State, 403 So 2d 1307 (Fla, 1981) (advice must be given to owner or possessor, if present, that vehicle will be impounded unless such person provides a reasonable alternative).

 See, e.g., Camara v San Francisco Municipal Court, 387 US 523; 87 S Ct 1727; 18 L Ed 2d 930 (1967).

 See fn 4.

 The dissenting opinion of Justice Marshall in Opperman would require police officers under the facts presented to reach the owner and obtain consent for a search. If specific cause requires a search to preserve the integrity of particular valuable property, no search could be performed absent explicit consent for the search or an attempt to get such consent. 428 US 393-394. The plurality opinion rejects this consent theory. 428 US 376, fn 10. In Opperman, unlike the instant case, no one was readily available to give consent.

 The car was so secure in the garage that the marijuana was left in the unlocked trunk overnight. The marijuana was in the control of the officers until it reached the garage since the officers followed the wrecker as it towed the vehicle to the garage.

 As to motive, the Court of Appeals opinion states:
"Deputy Howell testified that his inspection of the vehicle’s trunk was motivated by a belief that discovery of the plastic bag of marijuana inside the car suggested the possibility of additional marijuana in the trunk, and because it was his policy to check for valuables to protect himself against subsequent claims by the vehicle’s owner.” People v Long, 94 Mich App 338, 348; 288 NW2d 629 (1979).