In United States v. Anderson, --- F.4th ---, No. 20-50345 (9th Cir. 2022), a divided panel affirmed the district court’s order denying Jonathan Anderson’s motion to suppress a handgun found during an inventory search of his truck.
The per curiam majority held that the district court did not err in concluding the government established a valid community caretaking purpose existed for impounding and inventorying Anderson’s truck before the search was conducted.
One partial dissent argued that the case should be remanded for further fact finding because of inconsistent testimony at the suppression hearing.
The other partial dissent would have reversed based on the officers' failure to comply with their departments’ administrative policies governing inventory searches.
If you have a case involving an inventory search, this opinion is a must read.
