California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Stafford, H036350 (Cal. App. 2012):
Cases in the first category include People v. Benites (1992) 9 Cal.App.4th 309 (Benites). The sheriffs deputy in Benites impounded a van after learning that both the driver and the passenger had suspended licenses. (Id. at p. 315.) The appellate court upheld the ensuing inventory search because the decision to impound the van was reasonable under the circumstances. It was "very late at night," the van was three miles from town on "a dark, lonely and isolated stretch of road" where it "could be vandalized," "the passenger also lacked a valid license," and "there was the possibility that [the defendant] would simply drive off once [the officer] left." (Id. at p. 326.) Moreover, regarding the question of pretext, the deputy did not know the defendant was a
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