The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Dettmann, which stands for the proposition that the police cannot do an inventory search of a motor vehicle where their primary motivation for the search is the investigation of a crime.
In Dettmann, state trooper Brett Westbrook was patrolling in Pine City, Minnesota and observed a gray vehicle make a quick lane change and move into a parking space in front of the old courthouse. Westbrook ran the vehicle's Wisconsin license plate and learned that the plate was for a Chevy Lumina with suspended registration. However, the gray vehicle Westbrook observed was a Pontiac Bonneville, not a Lumina, prompting Westbrook to pull off the road and wait for the vehicle to drive by him again. A few minutes later, the vehicle drove by and Westbrook followed it. While following the vehicle, Westbrook observed it straddle two lanes of traffic before making a left hand turn. Westbrook activated his lights and siren, and the vehicle drove into a bank parking lot and parked diagonally in the back lot where vehicles are rarely parked.
Westbrook approached the vehicle, and the driver identified himself as appellant Anthony A. Dettmann. Because the license plate on the vehicle was registered to a different vehicle, Westbrook performed a registration check on both the vehicle identification number and the license plate. The vehicle was most recently registered in Minnesota in 2013, to someone other than Dettmann, and there was no stolen vehicle report. Dettmann told Westbrook that he was having trouble transferring the title to the vehicle, and that he had exchanged the license plates from his old vehicle to this vehicle so that he could drive it on the highways. In Wisconsin, as Westbrook later testified, license plates do not follow a vehicle, they follow the owner of the vehicle.
When Westbrook asked for proof of insurance, Dettmann responded that he was unable to provide proof of insurance. Also, when asked for proof of purchase of the vehicle, Dettmann responded that he did not have any paperwork or documentation with him or in the vehicle. Westbrook was prepared to issue Dettmann citations for driving without a valid driver's license and illegal use of license plates, but had decided not to arrest Dettmann.
Because it was almost 4:30 p.m. and the bank was about to close, Dettmann asked Westbrook if he could go into the bank and cash a check, and Westbrook agreed. While Dettmann was in the bank, Westbrook decided to tow the vehicle because ownership of the vehicle had not been established. Westbrook did not discuss his intention to tow or search the vehicle with Dettmann. After calling for the tow, Westbrook began an inventory search of the vehicle to document items of value. On the front passenger seat, Westbrook discovered a small pouch containing a white crystalline material that later tested positive for 0.063 grams of methamphetamine. He also found a glass pipe in the center console. Westbrook drove his squad car to the bank entrance, and placed Dettmann under arrest when he exited the bank.
Dettmann filed a motion to suppress the drugs, which was denied by the district court. On appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the district court, noting:
"Inventory searches and "inventory procedures serve to protect an owner's property while it is in the custody of the police, to insure against claims of lost, stolen, or vandalized property, and to guard the police from danger,' and 'are considered reasonable because of their administrative and caretaking functions.'(citation omitted). The traditional requirements of a warrant and probable cause are not implicated when police undertake administrative and caretaking functions precisely because such functions are unrelated to criminal investigations."
"However, because an inventory search only occurs after police have taken custody of a piece of property, an inventory search is only reasonable if taking custody of the property was reasonable."
"Two requirements must be met for an impoundment to comply with the Fourth Amendment. First, an impoundment is reasonable only if the state has an interest in impoundment that outweighs the individual's Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures." (citation omitted). The state's interest in impounding an individual's vehicle can outweigh an individual's right when 'public safety is put at risk by leaving the vehicle in place,' or when impoundment is necessary to protect the property from 'unauthorized interference' and protect police from claims related to leaving the property unattended, such as theft."
"The state concedes that the trooper did not have probable cause to believe that Dettmann's vehicle was stolen and that the "vehicle was not impeding traffic or threatening public safety." The state also makes no assertion that, prior to the seizure of Dettmann's vehicle, Dettmann was incapacitated or under arrest. Instead, the state argues that the impoundment of Dettmann's vehicle was proper based on police caretaking authority to protect the owner's property. "This authority arises 'when it becomes essential for [the police] to take custody of and responsibility for a vehicle due to the incapacity or absence of the owner, driver, or any responsible passenger.' Rohde, 852 N.W.2d at 265."
The Minnesota Court of Appeals then correctly held:
"The district court erred because the driver and owner of the vehicle was present and had capacity to take responsibility for the vehicle. When a driver is arrested, police often will need to do something with the vehicle so it is not left unattended for an indeterminate amount of time. Id. at 266. But 'cases in which the driver of a vehicle is arrested are fundamentally different from cases in which the driver remains free.' Id. (emphasis added). When the driver is free, the driver remains responsible for the vehicle, and police have 'no interest in protecting the property from theft or other claims arising from police control of the vehicle.'"
" [T]he the state argues that it could not release the vehicle to Dettmann because he could not prove that he owned the vehicle, and therefore Westbrook was taking responsibility for the vehicle to prevent theft. But, the question is not whether the state can release the vehicle to Dettmann, but whether it had authority to seize it from him in the first place. Because Dettmann claimed he owned the vehicle, the only way the state could believe ownership of the vehicle was in question was by determining that Dettmann's possession of the vehicle was a crime, which places the seizure outside of a community caretaking function and into the realm of criminal investigation—requiring probable cause."
"The state cannot impound and conduct an inventory search of a vehicle where the state's only motive is criminal investigation, and here the state's only motive was investigating whether Dettmann's possession of this vehicle was a crime...The State concedes there was not probable cause to impound the vehicle and on this basis, the impoundment violated the Fourth Amendment."
Moral Of The Story: If you are not arrested they cannot search your car.
If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, or are facing a DWI forfeiture of your motor vehicle, feel free to contact Minneapolis DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.
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