The People of the State of Colorado, Petitioner v. Carl A. Brown, Respondent

Summary

The court held that police could not impound and inventory-search a vehicle merely because the driver was cited, rather than arrested, for driving with a suspended license. Departmental policies and an ordinance granting officers discretion to impound the vehicle did not, by themselves, establish that the seizure was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Because the record showed no independent community-caretaking justification or other exception to the warrant requirement, the court affirmed suppression of the evidence.