US Supreme Court Florida v. Wells 88-1835

Decided April 18, 1990

   Wells was arrested for DUI, and during an inventory of his car, impound employees (acting on behalf of the police) found a lot of marijuana in a suitcase in the trunk.  Probably not the best time to be driving drunk, but whatever.

   Wells moved to suppress the marijuana, arguing that the inventory had violated the Fourth Amendment.  The court denied the motion, and he appealed.  The appellate court sided with Wells, saying that an agency should have a policy which requires closed containers to be opened or not during an inventory.

   The US Supreme Court held that the purpose of an inventory is to protect the property owner from loss or damage, and to protect the police from dangerous items which might be included in property under their control.  Notably missing from that list is the discovery of evidence (inventories are not conducted for that purpose, although evidence found during an inventory can still be used in court under the plain view doctrine).  In order to protect the actual purpose of the inventory instead of allowing it to become an excuse to search for incriminating evidence, the court deemed it necessary to require police agencies to have a policy which spells out the parameters of any given inventory.  That said, the policy can still afford for individual discretion when it comes to which containers will or will not be opened, as long as there is a policy.

   Since the Florida Highway Patrol didn't have such a policy, the marijuana in this case was suppressed.