NCJ Number
113989
Journal
Loyola University of Chicago Law Journal Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1988) Pages: 1097-1112
Date Published
1988
Length
16 pages
Annotation
After tracing the development of the vehicle inventory search doctrine, the article reviews cases and shows how the doctrine applies to Illinois law.
Abstract
Under the fourth amendment, police may search a lawfully impounded vehicle and may seize any contraband or evidence of crime found during the search. The fourth amendment requirements of probable cause, a warrant, and articulable suspicion do not apply to an inventory search. Relevant Supreme Court cases in inventory search law include Opperman v. South Dakota, Cooper v. California, Harris v. United States, and Cady v. Dombrowski. Additionally, in Colorado v. Bertine (1987) the court held that an inventory search that included opening and searching a zippered backpack did not violate the fourth amendment. The facts in Bertine resemble those in an Illinois case, People v. Bayles, in which the Illinois Supreme Court recognized a higher expectation of privacy in closed containers. Now that Bertine lowers that expectation of privacy under the fourth amendment, the greater protection recognized by the Illinois Supreme Court will no longer be available. The possibility therefore exists for police to abuse a defendant's fourth amendment rights in a vehicle inventory search. 97 footnotes.