Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant 'Inventory Search and Seizure" - Legal or Illegal

[austinga]

About three weeks ago I stopped at a retail store at a strip mall in georgia. As I was leaving the store I was arrested on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct. My car was parked in the shopping center parking lot about thirty yards away in front of the store. After I was taken into custody the authorities performed an 'inventory search" of my car, then towed/impounded the car and also seized my laptop computer which was in the front seat of my car. The authorities still have the laptop in their possession and have not responded to the inquiries made by my attorney for its return. Now the laptop computer is not my personal laptop, but is that of my employer which I use in the performance of my job. This has been of extreme concern to me since, not only do I need the elaptop to perform my job, but there are several unregistered/unlicensed software programs I had installed on the computer, as well as some other inappropriate material (absolutely nothing having to do with children) on the computer. So my concern here is the authorities are doing a forensic examination of the hard drive.

My questions are as follows:

1. Since my car was parked in a public parking lot and did not present any safety hazard,
did the authorities have cause to seize and impound my car? I could have easily
contacted a local freind to come and remove it and take it to his house.
2. Did they have probable cause to perform an 'inventory search" of my car?
3. Did they have probable cause to seize the laptop computer? Is this an illegal seizure? If
so, I assume anything they may find on the laptop could not be used to charge me with
anything.
4. Could anyone offer any suggestions or recommendations as to the best means for me
to get my laptop returned. My attorney has suggested a couple of options, however,
I would like to hear any other possible options that we may not have thought of.
5. Could anyone offer any case law examples of this type of situation or a similar situation.

Thanks

 

[CdwJava]

1. Since my car was parked in a public parking lot and did not present any safety hazard,
did the authorities have cause to seize and impound my car? I could have easily
contacted a local freind to come and remove it and take it to his house.

The US Supreme Court has ruled that the police may conduct an inventory of a vehicle which they intend to lawfully impound. Whether the police had a right to impound your vehicle under the given circumstances will depend on the status of this question under GA state law.

2. Did they have probable cause to perform an 'inventory search" of my car?

See above.

3. Did they have probable cause to seize the laptop computer? Is this an illegal seizure? If
so, I assume anything they may find on the laptop could not be used to charge me with
anything.

Maybe. It depends WHY they seized it. If it was a high ticket item and they seized it for safekeeping, then you should be able to get it back. If they suspect it was stolen property, then it might be held until this could be fleshd out.

4. Could anyone offer any suggestions or recommendations as to the best means for me
to get my laptop returned. My attorney has suggested a couple of options, however,
I would like to hear any other possible options that we may not have thought of.

I would suggest listening to your attorney.

5. Could anyone offer any case law examples of this type of situation or a similar situation.

There is ample case law on the internet and at your local law library regarding law enforcement inventories of impounded vehicles. Your attorney should know whether the impound was lawful or not. If not, you should be able to recover the cost of the impound fees.

- Carl