State v. Allensworth

748 N.W.2d 789, 2008 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 67, 2008 WL 1990838
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMay 9, 2008
Docket06-1507
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 748 N.W.2d 789 (State v. Allensworth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Allensworth, 748 N.W.2d 789, 2008 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 67, 2008 WL 1990838 (iowa 2008).

Opinion

HECHT, Justice.

We granted the State’s application for discretionary review of the district court’s order suppressing methamphetamine seized by law enforcement officers from a motor vehicle. We conclude the warrant-less search of the steering column of the vehicle was supported by probable cause, and was therefore permissible under the automobile exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s order.

I. Factual and Procedural Background.

A Polk County sheriffs deputy stopped a vehicle for speeding on Euclid Avenue in Des Moines. As the deputy approached the vehicle, Allen Allensworth rolled down the driver’s window, stated his name, and disclosed that there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The deputy noticed Allensworth had a large snake draped around his neck. A warrant check confirmed Allensworth had an outstanding warrant for a parole violation. The deputy arrested Allensworth, contacted Allens-worth’s friend to come to the scene and retrieve the snake, and called a towing company to transport the vehicle from the scene of the arrest. Due to the presence of the snake and the amount of traffic at the intersection where the stop occurred, the deputy decided to defer an inventory of the contents of the vehicle until after it was moved to the location where it was to be impounded. 1

*791 After transporting Allensworth to the jail for booking, but before he went to the impound lot to complete an inventory search of the vehicle, the deputy received an anonymous phone call reporting there were drugs in Allensworth’s car. Approximately two hours after the vehicle was towed and impounded, the deputy and another officer began an inventory of the vehicle’s contents. The deputy located a small bag of marijuana in the center console. Knowing the steering column was “a known place where people hide drugs,” an officer removed the horn button on the steering column and discovered a small plastic bag containing approximately twenty-five grams of methamphetamine.

Allensworth was charged with possession with intent to deliver more than five grams of methamphetamine, in violation of Iowa Code section 124.401(1) (b) (7) (2005), and failure to possess a drug tax stamp, in violation of Iowa Code section 453B.12. He filed a pro se motion to suppress the marijuana and methamphetamine, claiming they were seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. 2 Following a hearing, the district court concluded the seizure of the vehicle, the inventory search of the console, and the resulting seizure of the marijuana did not violate Allensworth’s Fourth Amendment rights. The court suppressed the methamphetamine, however, on the ground that the search of the steering column exceeded the proper scope of an inventory search. 3

The State filed a motion requesting the district court reconsider its ruling, advancing the automobile exception to the warrant requirement as an alternative ground for upholding the search of the vehicle and seizure of the methamphetamine. The district court denied the motion, concluding the automobile exception applies only if probable cause for the search and exigent circumstances exist at the scene of the stop. The district court reasoned that the *792 automobile exception did not apply under the circumstances of this case because probable cause for a warrantless search extending beyond an inventory search did not exist at the scene of the stop in this case, but arose only later after the vehicle was impounded when marijuana was discovered in the course of the inventory search. We granted discretionary review of the district court’s suppression order.

II. Scope of Review.

We review Fourth Amendment claims de novo. State v. Lam, 391 N.W.2d 245, 248 (Iowa 1986).

III. Discussion.

The State confines its argument on appeal to the validity of the search of the steering column under the so-called “automobile exception” to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. The State contends the district court erred in holding the automobile exception requires special exigency at the time the probable cause arises. Allensworth asserts the district court correctly suppressed the methamphetamine because the officers who conducted the search of the vehicle exceeded the limits of an inventory search when they invaded the steering column.

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution ensures “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures .... ” U.S. Const, amend. IV. “Searches and seizures conducted by governmental officials without prior court approval are per se unreasonable unless they fall within one of the few exceptions to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement.” State v. Jackson, 542 N.W.2d 842, 845 (Iowa 1996) (citing Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 514, 19 L.Ed.2d 576, 585 (1967); State v. Cook, 530 N.W.2d 728, 731 (Iowa 1995)). The Supreme Court has recognized a “specifically established and well-delineated” exception to the warrant requirement for searches of automobiles and their contents. California v. Acevedo, 500 U.S. 565, 581, 111 S.Ct. 1982, 1991, 114 L.Ed.2d 619, 634 (1991).

A review of the evolution of the automobile exception is useful in the analysis of the issue presented in this case. The United States Supreme Court first applied the exception in Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 45 S.Ct. 280, 69 L.Ed. 543 (1925). In Carroll, the Court held a search warrant is unnecessary for the search of an automobile when officers have probable cause to believe the vehicle contains contraband. 267 U.S. at 153-56, 45 S.Ct. at 285-86, 69 L.Ed. at 551-53. The Court concluded warrantless searches of vehicles based on probable cause are constitutionally permissible as it would be impracticable to require officers to secure a warrant “because the vehicle can be quickly moved out of the locality or jurisdiction in which the warrant may be sought.” Id. at 153, 45 S.Ct. at 285, 69 L.Ed. at 551. Thus, the original impetus for allowing warrantless searches of automobiles based upon probable cause was the exigency inherent in dealing with movable vehicles.

Forty-five years after Carroll was decided, the Court again addressed the scope of the automobile exception in Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419 (1970). In Chambers,

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Bluebook (online)
748 N.W.2d 789, 2008 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 67, 2008 WL 1990838, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-allensworth-iowa-2008.