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MA: Inventory and tow was reasonable rather than leave defendant's car in a high crime area

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

It was reasonable to have defendant’s vehicle inventoried and towed, rather than leave it parked in a high crime area that would have exposed it to vandalism or theft. Commonwealth v. Eddington, 2010 Mass. App. LEXIS 80 (January 26, 2010) ("This evidence demonstrates a sufficient risk that the car might be vandalized or stolen so that, when combined with the risk of false claims for loss against the police, the impoundment of the car, pursuant to a constitutionally adequate police policy, was reasonable and thus permissible under the Fourth Amendment."). Defendant’s father consented to a search of his juvenile daughter’s room, and the officer also searched her purse which was not in the room. There were “widely divergent” facts in the suppression hearing, and the suppression order must be affirmed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 31, 2010 (boomark / email).