Court Opinion

ID: 9552325
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:08:48.731928+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:26:07.691949
License: Public Domain

SOSA, Senior Justice, dissenting. I respectfully dissent. I cannot join in the majority opinion because the facts of this case do not amount to a constitutional inventory search and because of the unreasonable burden the majority places on our police officers. I. I agree that the three requirements for a constitutional inventory search are: (1) the vehicle to be inventoried must be in police control or custody; custody must be based upon a legal ground and. there must be a nexus between the arrest and the reason for impoundment; (2) the inventory must be made pursuant to established police regulations; and (3) the search must be reasonable. State v. Ruffino, 94 N.M. 500, 612 P.2d 1311 (1980). However, the above requirements were not met in this case. The majority opinion states that the defendant does not assert that his automobile was not in police control or custody. I disagree. At the trial level, the defendant alleged that the search and seizure of his automobile was “not valid as an inventory search because the automobile was lawfully parked and there was no necessity to remove it into police custody.” In my judgment, this allegation is sufficient to assert that the automobile was not in police custody. Furthermore, the issue on writ of certiorari as presented by the state is “[w]hether the facts in this case meet the requirements for a valid inventory search as stated by this Court” in Ruffino, supra. The first requirement is that the police have control or custody of the defendant’s automobile. The police did not have control or custody of the defendant’s automobile. The defendant was arrested inside the grocery store he attempted to rob and later transported to the police station. At the station, the police inventoried certain items the defendant had in his possession and seized a set of keys he was carrying. Such an inventory is conducted as part of the booking process as a reasonable means of safeguarding the property of the accused while he is in jail, and so that no weapons or contraband would be introduced into the jail. United States v. Tillery, 332 F.Supp. 217 (E.D.Pa.1971), aff'd, United States v. Smith, 468 F.2d 381 (3d Cir. 1972); People v. Glaubman, 175 Colo. 41, 485 P.2d 711 (1971). After seizing the keys, instead of safeguarding them from loss, the police decided to try their luck at locating the defendant’s automobile. The reasons alleged by the officer for locating the vehicle were threefold: (1) to seize the automobile as a means of escape; (2) because he believed he would find additional evidence in the automobile, such as ammunition; and (3) because his supervisor, without reason, told him to locate the automobile. Thus, not even knowing whether the defendant was driving an automobile prior to the attempted robbery, the police proceeded to the store to look for an automobile which the keys would open. Although the defendant’s automobile was legally parked on a street directly behind the store, the officers searched the interior and hatch of the automobile and found a checkbook and a map with an alleged escape route.1  The majority incorrectly disposes of the custody issue. The police did not even know of the existence of the automobile nor its location. How could the police then have control or custody of the automobile? What the majority now permits is for a police officer to make a valid arrest, obtain the keys of the accused and proceed to search a city for his automobile so that they can. search it, and then justify it as an inventory search. This is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. Control and custody of keys is not sufficient to have control and custody of the items the keys will open. The logical extension of the majority’s holding is that a police officer who legally obtains the keys of an accused may then proceed to open a locked suitcase, safety deposit box, and possibly a house. I cannot join the majority in encouraging such blatant constitutional violations. Also, in Ruffino, supra, we required that custody of a vehicle be based upon some nexus between an arrest and the reason for the impoundment. Here, there was no nexus. This involved a warrantless search of an automobile without justification under one of the few exceptions to the warrant requirement. Since the police did not even know whether a vehicle existed (as the majority acknowledges) or whether the vehicle could be evidence of a crime, there could be no nexus between the arrest and the impoundment. The State argues that the vehicle was evidence of a means of escape. The import of this contention is questionable, since “escape” is not an element of the crime for which the defendant is being accused. § 30-16-2, N.M.S.A.1978. The police officers merely engaged in a “fishing expedition” clearly impermissible by our constitution. If the police believed that this automobile contained evidence of a crime, they should have specified in writing their probable cause and have sought a search warrant from a neutral and detached judge. The police department also failed to comply with their own procedures. Section 314.02, as fully set out by the majority, permits an owner of an automobile to legally park his car unless the owner is physically or mentally incapable of doing so, or the automobile is evidence of a crime. The latter exception is argued by the State. However, I fail to see how the automobile could be evidence of the robbery, since the defendant was caught while attempting to rob. Thus, since the car was already legally parked and the police did not even know of its location or existence, the police need not have searched for it nor inventoried it, once located. The police had all the evidence they needed to proceed to trial on the robbery charge. They did not need to extend themselves into impermissible grounds without a warrant. II. Before the majority ruled in this case, an inventory search of an automobile was required for two principle reasons. One, to protect the automobile while in the custody of police, Harris v. United States, 390 U.S. 234, 88 S.Ct. 992, 19 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1968); two, to protect police from false tort claims or potential danger. See United States v. Lawson, 487 F.2d 468 (8th Cir, 1973). Generally, the automobile was either evidence of a crime (i.e., stolen), was required to be impounded by state law, Cooper v. California, 386 U.S. 58, 87 S.Ct. 788, 17 L.Ed.2d 730 (1967), was impounded because the accused was arrested while in or near the automobile, Harris, supra, or the automobile was illegally parked, South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 96 S.Ct. 3092, 49 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1976). The majority now creates another category for impoundment which, in my judgment, imposes an unacceptable burden on police officers. The majority requires that a police officer, who makes a valid arrest and finds automobile keys on the defendant during the booking process, take those keys and attempt to locate the defendant’s automobile so that the automobile may be inventoried and then impounded. Under this new category, the police need not be certain of the existence or location of the automobile; the automobile need not be in police custody; the police need not be required to protect it; nor need they be subjected to false tort claims or be subject to any danger. If a police officer is uncertain of the existence of an automobile belonging to an accused, and the automobile is not evidence of a crime, no logical nor legal reason exists for making the officer search a city for the automobile to insure its security. However, the majority now imposes such a requirement, and, as such, the police will hereinafter be subject to liability if loss occurs to an accused and the police did not search for his automobile and have it impounded, although they had custody of his keys. III. There is little doubt that this defendant is guilty of the crime for which he is being charged. This fact can be proven by the State without the use of the unlawfully-obtained evidence. However, in analyzing whether a particular defendant has had his constitutional rights violated, we are required to ignore his guilt or innocence. We must decide these constitutional questions on their merit alone. In my judgment, although this defendant is probably guilty, his Fourth Amendment rights were violated. Evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment is not admissible at trial. The trial court having improperly admitted this evidence, I would remand for a new trial. In view of my apparent disposition of this case, I need not address the remaining issues discussed by the majority. I respectfully dissent.  . State’s Exhibit 4, the tow-in report which allegedly includes a list of the items inventoried in the automobile, does not list the map as having been inventoried.