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AZ: Gun in vehicle could be seized under "community caretaker doctrine" which is not the same as Quarles's Fifth Amendment public safety exception

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendants disabled pickup truck had a gun in it, and it was visible. Officers could enter the vehicle to seize it under the public safety exception to protect against its theft or use. This is not the same as Quarles's public safety exception to Miranda. State v. Mendoza-Ruiz, 2010 Ariz. App. LEXIS 120 (July 29, 2010): P12 Here, the officers entered the cab of the pickup and removed the gun because of their legitimate concern for public safety. At the suppression hearing, Officer J.M. said that the gun was clearly visible from outside the cab of the vehicle. She testified that the area where the truck was parked was busy because of a nearby restaurant and nightclub. She also testified that the restaurant where the truck was parked was a “location of high crime, shootings, [and] aggravated assaults...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 02, 2010 (boomark / email).