IN THE OF IOWA

No. 16–0736

Filed June 29, 2018

Amended September 10, 2018

STATE OF IOWA,

Appellee, vs.

BION BLAKE INGRAM,

Appellant.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Steven J. Holwerda, Judge.

Defendant appeals his conviction for possession of methamphetamine. REVERSED AND REMANDED.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Mary K. Conroy, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Kyle Hanson, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

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APPEL, Justice. In this case, a driver challenges the constitutionality of an inventory search of his vehicle, which was to be towed after police discovered it was not lawfully registered. After conducting a search, the police found a controlled substance. The district court denied the driver’s motion to suppress, and he was convicted of possession. The driver argues this search was unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Alternatively, even if the Federal Constitution does not prohibit warrantless inventory searches under these particular circumstances, the driver argues article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution provides greater protections. We accept the invitation to restore the balance between citizens and law enforcement by adopting a tighter legal framework for warrantless inventory searches and seizures of automobiles under article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution than provided under the recent precedents of the United States Supreme Court. In doing so, we encourage stability and finality in law by decoupling Iowa law from the winding and often surprising decisions of the United States Supreme Court. In the words of another , we do not allow the words of our Iowa Constitution to be “balloons to be blown up or deflated every time, and precisely in accord with the interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court, following some tortuous trail.” Penick v. State, 440 So. 2d 547, 552 (Miss. 1983). We take the opportunity to stake out higher constitutional ground today.

I. Facts and Procedural Background. At about 6:39 a.m. on October 30, 2015, a police officer pulled over Bion Ingram, who was driving on Highway 14 in Newton, Iowa. The officer had noticed the vehicle’s license plate was not illuminated as required. After speaking with Ingram, the officer also noticed the 3 vehicle’s registration sticker did not match its license plate—the vehicle’s actual registration had expired in 2013. Because of the registration violation, the officer decided to impound the vehicle and told Ingram it would be towed. The officer did not arrest Ingram at that point but had him sit in the patrol vehicle while the officer wrote citations for the traffic violations. Ingram told the officer he was going to work, and the officer agreed to drive Ingram to a nearby gas station for Ingram’s friend to pick him up and take him to work. Ingram asked to be able to retrieve his work items from the vehicle, but the officer did not allow Ingram to do this until the officer finished writing the citations. The officer told Ingram the contents of the vehicle would be inventoried before towing and asked Ingram if there was anything of value in the vehicle. Ingram said there was nothing of value in the vehicle. Another officer arrived and inventoried the contents of the vehicle. The officers did not obtain a warrant to search the vehicle. During the inventory, the second officer discovered a black cloth bag on the floor next to the gas pedal. When the officer opened the bag, the officer discovered a glass pipe and what field tests revealed to be almost a gram of methamphetamine. Ingram was arrested. Ingram was charged by trial information with possession of methamphetamine, second offense, and charged by citation with possession of drug paraphernalia. Ingram filed a motio