Can an impound vehicle search go too far?

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? California

I was recently pulled over for invalid registration. I was asked to step out of the vehicle and 2 officers began to search my vehicle while a third officer questioned me. After approx. 30 min the 2 male officers returned and stated they did not find anything improper in the vehicle. They were done. They asked the third female officer if there was any reason for them to search further. My license was valid and I was in complete control of my emotions and not in anyway irrational or disrespectful. The officer asked me if they could search my car more. I said NO. The officer repeatedly requested but I said no. She said she was impounding my car and she would have it regardless but I said no... After 5 min of this back and forth Me standing firm on NO. She gets fed up with my insistence of no and says well if its the fact that you are embarrassed to have the men search your stuff then I will. I repeated numerous times that its not the gender of the officer I simply do NOT want ANYONE to search my car. She did not have permission to further search my car but she did. After an additional 20 min search going through EVERYTHING she finally returns with my zippered wallet and after opening it and rooting thoroughly through my money credit cards and change she finds less than a gram of marijuana. The female officer states that a ticket constitutes an arrest and demands that I turn over my purse for search. I contest but they forcefully remove it from my hand. They then find more drugs and I goto jail. Do I have any motions to stand on?

MyMurphylife said:

They then find more drugs and I goto jail.

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Wow! How old are you? Don't you know drugs are illegal? If they only found weed, I feel for you, Bro. If you were dabbling in any other aspect of the drug culture, then you get what you deserve.

Once these cops found your weed, you were dead meat. All they have to say is they smelled burning weed and to bolster their assertion, they provide the gram they recovered from you.

End of story.

Seriously, Bro. If you are fooling around with more then just weed, you might want to use this episode to re-evaluate were your headed in life.

MyMurphylife said:

Do I have any motions to stand on?

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Based SOLELY on the information in your post, there is a slim possibility that the officers MAY have overstepped their bounds in the continued search. However, a final determination will depend largely on YOUR attorney's review of ALL the facts.... and a ruling from the court.

MyMurphylife said:

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? California

I was recently pulled over for invalid registration. I was asked to step out of the vehicle and 2 officers began to search my vehicle while a third officer questioned me. After approx. 30 min the 2 male officers returned and stated they did not find anything improper in the vehicle. They were done. They asked the third female officer if there was any reason for them to search further. My license was valid and I was in complete control of my emotions and not in anyway irrational or disrespectful. The officer asked me if they could search my car more. I said NO. The officer repeatedly requested but I said no. She said she was impounding my car and she would have it regardless but I said no... After 5 min of this back and forth Me standing firm on NO. She gets fed up with my insistence of no and says well if its the fact that you are embarrassed to have the men search your stuff then I will. I repeated numerous times that its not the gender of the officer I simply do NOT want ANYONE to search my car. She did not have permission to further search my car but she did. After an additional 20 min search going through EVERYTHING she finally returns with my zippered wallet and after opening it and rooting thoroughly through my money credit cards and change she finds less than a gram of marijuana. The female officer states that a ticket constitutes an arrest and demands that I turn over my purse for search. I contest but they forcefully remove it from my hand. They then find more drugs and I goto jail. Do I have any motions to stand on?

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Wow...Two questions. Was the violation one that allows them to make a custodial arrest (i.e., in their statutes, is it an arrestable offense that allows the officer to take you into custody and take you to jail, or is it an offense that only allows them to give you a citation and release you)? In my state, that is an infraction only and does not allow an arrest (but your state could be different).

Also, were you actually taken into custody: were you taken to jail?

If not, her excuse about the ticket being an arrest (which I would assume she was trying to say it was a search incident to a lawful) sounds bogus to me.

If the violation was not one that allows her to take you to jail and she did not take you to jail, she had no right to search your vehicle (unless another search warrant exception applied). See Knowles v. Iowa 525 US 113 (1998) and Atwater v. Lago Vista 532 US 318 (2001).

I would look into it further.

If the vehicle was unregistered and subject to impound (usually due to expired registration of more than 6 months), then any search of the vehicle as part of an impound inventory is legal in CA. If the driver had been issued a citation for the expired registration and released with the car, then I'd say that the officers exceeded their authority if there was no other conditions present.

And a citable infraction is not an arrestable offense and using that as the pretext for a search of a person and their vehicle is likely to result in an out-of-court settlement by the agency.

But, I suspect there are elements of this even that have not been told. And given that the title mentions "impound search", I suspect the vehicle was towed ... thus the search was almost certainly lawful. Though grabbing the purse is VERY questionable. The officers SHOULD have required she leave it in the car until after it was checked.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

If the vehicle was unregistered and subject to impound (usually due to expired registration of more than 6 months),

- Carl

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My response:

That was shortened to 3 months, nearly 5 years ago Carl. Where have you been?

IAAL

I AM ALWAYS LIABLE said:

My response:

That was shortened to 3 months, nearly 5 years ago Carl. Where have you been?

IAAL

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My further response:

Ooops. Vehicle Code 22651 was, once again, changed to reflect the 6 months requirement. It started out as 6 months, then went down to 3 months, and now it's back up to 6 months.

My mistake, Carl.

IAAL

I AM ALWAYS LIABLE said:

My further response:

Ooops. Vehicle Code 22651 was, once again, changed to reflect the 6 months requirement. It started out as 6 months, then went down to 3 months, and now it's back up to 6 months.

My mistake, Carl.

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I was gonna say ...

As far back as I can recall CVC 22651 has always said 6 months ... but then, I don't go back quite as far as you do.

I bet you remember when PC 12020 probably took only half a page!

- Carl

Impound Search gone wild

Thank you All. I sincerely appreciate the info thus far. To clarify some facts in response:

Yes, The car was out of registration over 6 months. I only recently bought the car and was in the process of registering. My problem was the smog certificate. I now know I could have gotten a red sign for my window as an extension. When they asked me to get out of the car I realized they were going to tow the car and would perform an impound search that point I have no issue with.
I never received a ticket for the registration. I broke no other traffic violations. I pulled over immediately when I saw the lights. When asked if I was on parole or probation or ever arrested for a felony before... I replied no and my license I heard the radio state was clear. They never said I had to leave my purse in the car.
They did not find any contraband or illegal items of any kind when the first 2 officers conducted the 20+ min impound search of my car. Not until the 3rd officer took it upon herself and searched for another 20-30 min did she find the weed. The officer stated that the ticket for weed was an arrest and the reason she could now search my purse and person. After searching my purse they found 2 ecstasy pills and I was brought to jail. I was charged for number HS1157? possession of a controlled substance and a Mst marijuana charge

My court date is Friday. What advise do u have on how to deal with my public defender?
What are the names of the possible motions and grounds I can request my public defender to present in court?

MyMurphylife said:

Yes, The car was out of registration over 6 months. I only recently bought the car and was in the process of registering. My problem was the smog certificate. I now know I could have gotten a red sign for my window as an extension. When they asked me to get out of the car I realized they were going to tow the car and would perform an impound search that point I have no issue with.

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Once it was more than 6 months overdue, it became free game - and searching anything within as part of an impound inventory is perfectly lawful and, indeed, required by the policy of virtually every agency in CA.

They never said I had to leave my purse in the car.

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Okay ... then your attorney can bring that factoid up in a suppression hearing. However, being that they alleged you were under arrest after finding the marijuana in your car, the search of the purse becomes a search incident to arrest.

They did not find any contraband or illegal items of any kind when the first 2 officers conducted the 20+ min impound search of my car. Not until the 3rd officer took it upon herself and searched for another 20-30 min did she find the weed.

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Considering that the car was theirs at that point, the time frame is really irrelevant. And SOMETHING must have tipped them off to the presence of contraband in the car since they searched so much.

The officer stated that the ticket for weed was an arrest and the reason she could now search my purse and person.

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Technically, they are right. Possession of marijuana IS a misdemeanor. However, case law out here tends to lean toward a search incident to arrest being valid in situations where a person would normally be arrested and transported to jail or the station. I don't know of any agency that transports for marijuana possession as it is punishable by a fine only ... smaller than most traffic violations. But, technically, it IS a misdemeanor crime and you could be arrested.

They can also articulate reasonable suspicion to believe that since there was marijuana in the car it is reasonable to assume that marijuana was also in your purse ... this can justify a search of the purse as well.

After searching my purse they found 2 ecstasy pills and I was brought to jail. I was charged for number HS1157? possession of a controlled substance and a Mst marijuana charge

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H&S 11357(b) is possession of marijuana ... did they charge you for the ecstacy as well?

My court date is Friday. What advise do u have on how to deal with my public defender?

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Let him advise you.

What are the names of the possible motions and grounds I can request my public defender to present in court?

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For what? I don't see a defense here.

Your car was being impounded - the search of the car was good. The search of your purse was good either as incident to arrest or with reasonable suspicion. I don't see a big hole. The only straw to grasp at might be the search of the purse depending on how the officers articulate the cause in their report. If they articulate it as a search incident to arrest it's possible that the court may not view a citable offense as justifying a search incident to arrest ... but, it's a long shot.

Go forth and smoke no more.

- Carl

Thank You!
You have been very kind to share your knowledge. It has helped to clarify much.

Car purchase

How many days prior to the stop had you purchased the vehicle? I've attached a link to the CA Department of Motor Vehicles regarding registration. You might find it enlightening:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/vr_info.htm#BM2523