Published on: Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Cop in Frederick, Okla. (pop. 4k) arrests man for lightly tapping him on the cheek. Though the cop knows the man's mother lives three blocks away, he insists on towing the man's vehicle (a tow truck). Yikes! An inventory search of the truck yields an M-16 rifle that the man, a felon, is not permitted to have. Double yikes! Man: Suppress the evidence. District court: No way. Tenth Circuit: Yes way. In these Tenth Circuit streets, courts must consider five factors to determine whether a community-caretaking impoundment is reasonable, and this flunks all five.
The case is United States v. Ramos, 23-cr-06071 (10th Cir. Dec. 15, 2023).