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D.S.C.: Destruction of inventory sheet after car picked up was not police bad faith

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The inventory of defendant’s car was reasonable and under standardized procedure to take the car into custody, too. The fact the inventory sheet was destroyed after the car was picked up was not bad faith by the police department and did not make the inventory unreasonable. United States v. Arline, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1428 (D. S.C. January 6, 2011).* The defendant officer threw a flashlight into a moving car in an effort to stop it. This was a seizure and unreasonable under cases decided up to the time it happened, particularly Abraham v. Raso, 183 F.3d 279 (3d Cir. 1999) involving shooting into a moving car. Therefore, no qualified immunity. Couden v. Duffey, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 388 (3d Cir. January 7, 2011) (unpublished)*: Our decision in Abraham, which was issued prior to the conduct in question, is sufficiently similar to the facts of this case so as to make it clear to a reasonable officer that his conduct, as described by the plaintiff-appellants, was unlawful...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 10, 2011 (boomark / email).