People v. Lee

The motion court should have granted defendant’s motion to suppress the physical evidence recovered during the warrant-less search of defendant’s car. The motion court’s conclusion that the police conducted a valid inventory search is inconsistent with both the police testimony that their motivation for the search was investigatory, and the documentary and testimonial evidence that the search did not comply with established *630procedure. In addition, the evidence failed to provide any reasonable alternative basis for the warrantless search of defendant’s car at the time of his arrest.

The…