Oregon Appeals Court Overturns Impound On Driver Property

An Oregon Court of Appeals decision, ruled that that reaching one’s own driveway before pulling over for a traffic stop can benefit the driver and potentially result in less consequences. The court ruled on the case of Richard Gonzales who was pulled over in November 2007. Since Gonzales was in close to proximity to his home, he waited until reaching his driveway before pulling over. After finding that Gonzales was driving on a suspended licednse, the officer searched the car without a warrant, “declaring he was going to impound the vehicle.” While prosecutors argued that a “caretaking doctrine” required police to seize the car so it wouldn’t be “at the disposal” of people who had no licenses, the public defender claimed the state “had no business towing a car that was no blocking traffic and wouldn’t be considered abandoned, if left alone.” The trial judge agreed with the prosecution saying he wouldn’t “allow Gonzales to benefit from not pulling over immediately.” The Oregon court of appeals, however, rejected the argument that leaving the car at the residence would have been a threat to public safety, claiming it amounted to “little more than speculation that defendant would have driven the car again and would not have been deterred by the citation for driving while suspended.”