Victor Gomez was arrested after being pulled over for driving erratically and a search of his vehicle revealed drugs in the trunk and car-door paneling.
Gomez challenged the legality of the officers' conduct, claiming police failed to follow "standardized procedure" by not taking an appropriate inventory, or keeping an itemized list, of the vehicle's contents.
When the New York County Supreme Court ignored his objections and convicted Gomez of criminal possession of a controlled substance, he appealed to the Appellate Division, First Department. Interestingly, the AD1 found officers had made a critical error by failing to adhere to applicable record-keeping guidelines and reversed.
A lone dissenter -- Justice McGuire -- believed the search of the entire vehicle was proper given that cocaine and a scale had been discovered in Gomez's trunk. Furthermore, since it wasn't standard procedure for officers to complete an "inventory search form" when preparing a voucher, McGuire thought the conviction should have been left undisturbed.
We're wondering what form the Court of Appeals's decision will take.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: People v. Gomez