PPS, Inc. v. Faulkner Cty., Ark., No. 09-3540

Action Against Police for Seizing Pawnshop Property

In PPS, Inc. v. Faulkner Cty., Ark., No. 09-3540,  an action claiming that the police seized property from a pawn shop's inventory without a warrant and in violation of its Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendant where 1) the plain view doctrine justified an officer's seizure of an item; and 2) the district court did not need to find that the alleged victim of a theft was in fact the owner of the property before the plain view doctrine would authorize the item's seizure.

As the court wrote:  "PPS, Inc. (PPS), the owner of the EZ Cash Pawn Shop in Little Rock, Arkansas (EZ), appeals the district court's¹ grant of summary judgment to the defendants in this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case, claiming that Sergeant David Hall of the Faulkner County, Arkansas Sheriff's Office seized property from the pawn shop's inventory without a warrant and in violation of PPS's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. We affirm."

Related Resources

• Read the Eighth Circuit's Decision in PPS, Inc. v. Faulkner Cty., Ark., No. 09-3540