You are here: / / THE POLICE DID NOT HAVE INFORMATION DEMONSTRATING THE TEMPORARY TEXAS REGISTRATION...
,

THE POLICE DID NOT HAVE INFORMATION DEMONSTRATING THE TEMPORARY TEXAS REGISTRATION WAS INVALID AT THE TIME THEY IMPOUNDED THE CAR; THE INVENTORY SEARCH WAS IMPROPER AND THE HANDGUNS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the officers who stopped defendant’s vehicle did not have any information that the temporary Texas registration was invalid at the time the vehicle was impounded. Therefore the inventory search was invalid and the handguns should have been suppressed:

“An inventory search is exactly what its name suggests, a search designed to properly catalogue the contents of the item searched” … . Inventory searches may not be used as “a ruse for a general rummaging in order to discover incriminating evidence” … and, unlike a traffic stop, “will be constitutionally invalid where the search was merely a pretext to search for evidence of a crime” … . “Only a lawfully impounded vehicle may be subjected to an inventory search” … , and “[t]he People bear the threshold burden of demonstrating that the subject vehicle was lawfully impounded at the time of the inventory search” … . People v Boatwright, 2026 NY Slip Op 04071, Fourth Dept 6-26-26

Practice Point: Without a valid reason to impound a car, an inventory search of the car is not justified.​

 

You might also like
FAILURE TO RULE ON A MOTION FOR A TRIAL ORDER OF DISMISSAL IS NOT A DENIAL OF THE MOTION; THE MATTER MUST BE SENT BACK FOR A RULING (FOURTH DEPT).
THE DEFENDANT TESTIFED THE VICTIM WAS ON TOP OF HIM REPEATEDLY STRIKING HIM IN THE HEAD WHEN HE PULLED OUT HIS FIREARM AND SHOT THE VICTIM; EVEN IF DEFENDANT’S VERSION WAS DEEMED UNLIKELY, THE JURY SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED ON THE JUSTIFICATION DEFENSE; NEW TRIAL ORDERED (FOURTH DEPT).
ALTHOUGH THE PRE-ANSWER MOTION TO DISMISS THE ARTICLE 78 PETITION WAS PROPERLY DENIED, THE COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE GRANTED THE PETITION WITHOUT AFFORDING THE RESPONDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO ANSWER IT (FOURTH DEPT).
AFTER A VALID TRAFFIC STOP BASED ON THE LICENSE PLATES NOT MATCHING THE VEHICLE, DEFENDANT PRESENTED HIS TEMPORARY REGISTRATION AND EXPLAINED THE PLATES HAD BEEN TRANSFERRED FROM A DIFFERENT VEHICLE; AT THAT POINT THE AUTHORIZATION TO DETAIN DEFENDANT CEASED; THE SEIZED DRUGS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (FOURTH DEPT). ​
DEFENDANT IN THIS LADDER-FALL CASE RAISED A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER PLAINTIFF MISSED A STEP AND WAS THEREFORE THE SOLE PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THE FALL; A TWO-JUSTICE DISSENT DISAGREED (FOURTH DEPT).
Order to Compel Acceptance of Answer Upheld—Delay Caused by Insurance Carrier is Valid Excuse—Precedent to the Contrary Overruled
ONE OF MOTHER’S CHILDREN OPENED A LOCKED WINDOW, TOOK OUT THE SCREEN AND DROPPED HIS SIBLING TWO STORIES WHILE MOTHER WAS HOME; MOTHER COULD NOT HAVE FORESEEN THE INCIDENT; THE NEGLECT FINDING WAS REVERSED (FOURTH DEPT).
Question of Fact About Defect In Diving Board Precluded Summary Judgment Based Upon Primary Assumption of Risk

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

THE REFEREE DID NOT HAVE JURISDICTION TO DISMISS THE FAMILY OFFENSE PETITION;... ALTHOUGH THE BIPOLAR-DISORDER DIAGNOSIS WAS MADE “POST-CRIME,” THE...