Linn County Circuit Court Judge John A. McCormick reversed a decision this month by Sweet Home Municipal Court Judge Larry Blake that upheld an impound by city police during an administrative hearing.
Wayne Hadland filed in Linn County Circuit on March 31 to have the decision reversed.
His vehicle had been impounded after police arrested Eric Steinborn for driving under the influence. Steinborn was later convicted on the charge.
Hadland, who is a retired attorney, said Steinborn had not planned to drive on the day he was arrested in the fall of 2008, Hadland said, but he had believed it was an emergency. Police located Steinborn at Hadland’s home after the car was safely parked in the driveway.
Hadland argued before Blake that the impound was improper because the car was not seized as part of a criminal investigation or as part of the community caretaking function, the only two valid reasons to impound a vehicle. He cited the 2005 case of Miranda v. City of Cornelius, in which the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court held that these were the only two circumstances under which a vehicle could be impounded.
The caretaking function allows police to impound a vehicle that is parked in a hazardous location or to protect the vehicle from likely vandalism or other danger.
Since the late 1990s, after the passage of a new Oregon law, Sweet Home police started impounding vehicles for the offenses of no license, no insurance, driving while suspended and driving under the influence. The law also allowed towing for failure to carry proof of insurance.
“The seizure and impoundment of petitioner’s vehicle was unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution,” McCormick wrote on Aug. 13. “The case of Miranda v. City of Cornelius arose in Oregon and was specifically cited and argued to the Sweet Home Municipal Court by petitioner herein and explains fully this court’s ruling.”
Hadland said the judge’s decision was what he expected.
“Essentially, he says Miranda is the law,” Hadland said. “I think the judge did what he had to do. I don’t think he could have done anything differently.”
As a result, he said, the court reversed the decision of the Sweet Home Municipal Court, made on Nov. 4, and ordered that the city reimburse Hadland for administrative, towing and storage fees. The court also awarded Hadland for costs related to the case but not including attorney’s fees.
Hadland was represented by attorney Emily Courtnage of Portland on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union.
“I didn’t win in the sense that I’m ahead of the game,” Hadland said. “I got my money back. Winning is the city losing and the city stopping seizing cars.”
The city should have stopped impounding vehicles after the Miranda decision, Hadland said. “I think the decision by Judge Larry Black was a political decision rather than a legal decision.”
Hadland thinks the city wanted to continue essentially “stealing” these vehicles from the poor people in town, to drive them out of town, he said. “They just couldn’t come up with the cash, so they’d lose their car.”
Calling the original decision “odious,” Hadland said, “he consciously made that decision. He didn’t make an error. He has an obligation to apply the law.”
“As always, the federal Constitution has to be followed in Oregon just like everywhere else,” said Dave Fieanque, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon. The Ninth Circuit Court decision made it clear. “When a vehicle is in someone’s driveway at their house, regardless of what Oregon law allows, it can’t be towed.”
Police departments need to be aware of this and stop impounding as they become aware, he said.
City attorneys and the attorney general are supposed to be aware of these types of cases, he said.
“This case is out there, and police departments need to comply with the Constitution. Unfortunately, Oregon law hasn’t caught up with the latest decisions.”
The Sweet Home Police Department relaxed its impound policy in May. First, it stopped impounding any cars. By late May, police officers were working under a new policy.
Police Chief Bob Burford was on vacation and could not be reached for comment.
“Police officers work within existing law,” Burford said earlier this year.
“If the courts later determine we shouldn’t impound these vehicles, then we’ll follow whatever new rules are established.”
“As part of our research into Mr. Hadland’s appeal, we took notice of two Ninth Circuit Court opinions,” Burford said in June. “These impounds are now tied directly into community caretaking functions. Prior to this, we didn’t explicitly state in our policy the community caretaking function.”
Linn County Sheriff’s Office instructed deputies to begin following the same community caretaking practice in early July, said Capt. Jeff Cone, traffic division.
The Sheriff’s Office was aware of the Miranda decision by then, and the county’s attorneys advised the Sheriff’s Office to follow the ruling in Miranda, said Capt. Tami Wood, civil division. When vehicles are parked legally, such as in their own driveway, they are not impounded.
Under the new policy, the Sheriff’s Office tows vehicles when they qualify as hazards, Cone said.
“Unfortunately, the statute conflicts some with community caretaking,” Wood said. The Ninth Circuit ruled that impounding should be for caretaking rather than a penalty.
As she understood it, one of the goals of impounding vehicles, she said, was to get the offenders off the road, to make sure they don’t drive away once cited and released.