Public Entity & Civil Rights Litigation

In Commonwealth v. Alexander, 243 A.3d 177 (Pa. 2020), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution affords greater privacy interests than the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, thus, requires both probable cause and exigent circumstances before a vehicle may be subject to a warrantless investigatory search for evidence of a crime. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania rejected, in a case of first impression, the argument that Alexander necessarily eliminated the “inventory search” exception to the warrant requirement, which allows a warrantless search of a vehicle lawfully impounded, so long as the search is undertaken for a noncriminal purpose pursuant to a routine practice of securing and inventorying the impounded vehicle’s contents. Distinguishing Alexander, the Superior Court emphasized that an inventory search proceeds from a “community caretaking” principle and, therefore, does not involve the probable cause determination required for investigatory searches. While recognizing Alexander may support placing limitations on the inventory search exception, the court declined to address the viability of any such limitations because the appellant argued only that Alexander eliminated the inventory search exception in total. Accordingly, Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution continues to permit warrantless “inventory searches” of impounded automobiles, without limitation. 

 

 

_{Case Law Alerts, 2nd Quarter, April 2023 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2023 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}