WILLMAR — The Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office had the legal right to tow a vehicle to the impound lot and conduct an inventory search of it, after its driver was pulled over for driving after cancellation and could not show proof of vehicle ownership or insurance.
That search in December 2017 led to the discovery of 25 grams of methamphetamine under a cup holder and the subsequent arrest and conviction of Gerardo Cory Lopez, 44, on a charge of second-degree drug possession. He was sentenced Dec. 11, 2018, in Kandiyohi County District Court to serve 95 months in prison on the drug conviction.
In a decision released March 9, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in its ruling on an appeal by Lopez in which he argued that the search was unreasonable because the county did not have a warrant for it.
In its decision, the court stated that an inventory search of an impounded vehicle provides an exception to the warrant requirement when there is authority to impound the vehicle. It found there was authority in this case because the vehicle did not belong to the defendant and the county had an obligation to protect it from theft if left on the street. The defendant also did not show there was insurance on the vehicle.
The court also concluded that there was reason for a sheriff’s deputy to arrest Lopez for driving after cancellation. The officer who saw Lopez driving and initiated the traffic stop was a member of the drug and gang task force and familiar with Lopez through prior arrests.
The court noted in its decision that an inventory search cannot be conducted for the sole purpose of investigation. While the officer suspected that Lopez was hiding drugs based on his actions at the time and his prior convictions, it was not the only reason for the inventory search. It is the policy of the Sheriff’s Office to conduct an inventory search of vehicles it impounds.
Lopez argued that he had called his girlfriend to bring proof of insurance to the officer at the site of the arrest, but she did not make her presence known. He did not tell the officer that had he arranged for another way for the vehicle to be transported.
