On a late January night in 2018, Joel Villela was pulled over for speeding. The officer smelled alcohol on Villela's breath. When Villela refused a roadside field sobriety test, the officer arrested him on suspicion of DUI. Under Washington state law (RCW 46.55.360), Villela's car was impounded. A subsequent inventory search of the vehicle revealed digital scales, sandwich bags, pipes, and a large amount of cash. Cocaine was discovered on Villela after a search incident to arrest. Villela was charged with DUI and possession with intent to deliver controlled substances.
Villela filed a motion to suppress the "fruits" (drug evidence) of the inventory search of his car claiming that the mandatory impoundment was an unlawful seizure under Washington Constitution Article I, section 7. That section provides that "no person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law." Under Washington law, "authority of law" means a warrant or a long-standing exception to the warrant requirement.
RCW 46.55.360 mandates law enforcement to impound a vehicle any time its driver is arrested for DUI. Impoundment is mandatory - officers have no discretion nor can they determine if a reasonable alternative to impoundment is feasible. If the arrested driver is also the sole registered owner of the vehicle, he or she must wait a minimum of 12-hours before he or she can redeem the vehicle.
The Washington Supreme Court recently held that "Hailey's Law" violates the state constitution (State v. Villela - filed October 17, 2019). The Court held that:
"RCW 46.55.360 waives what our constitution requires before a car may be seized: either probable cause or a long-standing exception to the warrant requirement, such as community caretaking. In addition, in the absence of probable cause, a car may be impounded only after individualized consideration of reasonable alternatives. Since the officer did not do that individualized consideration and since there was no probable cause to seize the vehicle, the seizure was unlawful. Therefore, the fruits of the inventory search must be suppressed."
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