Inventory Searches
Whenever a vehicle is impounded, an inventory search, which is a search of all the things that are in the vehicle, is performed. An inventory search is done on every impounded vehicle. During the search, everything in the vehicle is searched through and itemized.
A car can be impounded by an officer for three main reasons:
a) If the person is arrested
b) If the person is booked on having five or more unpaid speeding or parking tickets
c) If the car is believed to be stolen
So once a car is impounded, it is searched and inventory is taken. If there are illegal things found within the vehicles inventory, then it can be used against the operator of the vehicle legally.
If they feel a vehicle is a traffic hazard, they can be impounded. However, if it is found that the officer made a bad call on what a traffic hazard actually consists of, and it is found that the vehicle was impounded unfairly, then the evidence can arguably be excluded.
Posted by: J. Michael Threadgill on 2/22/2008
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| Located in Fort Bend, Texas, J. Michael Threadgill represents clients in a range of criminal defense and family law matters. The firm proudly serves Texas cities including Houston, Pasadena, Beaumont, Sugar Land, Baytown, League City, Missouri City, Friendswood, Webster, Texas City, Alvin, Angleton, Pearland, Richmond, Galveston, Conroe, The Woodlands, Rosenberg, Katy, Pasadena, La Porte, Morton, and Deer Park, as well as the counties of Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Montgomery, Victoria, Chambers, Colorado, Liberty, and Jefferson.
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Law Office of J. Michael Threadgill
14090 Southwest Freeway, Suite 300 #139
Sugar Land, TX 77478
Tel: 713-425-4958
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mthreadgill@threadgill-law.com
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