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Edwards v. State6/19/2001
, Edwards would have been arrested for that offense. Then a search of his person and an inventory search of his vehicle would have followed. This means that even if the pat-down discovery and seizure of the drug from Edwards's pocket was invalid, that same evidence would have been admissible under the doctrine of "inevitable discovery." Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431, 444 (1984). We find no defect in the evidence that supports the trial court's finding on inevitable discovery.
. We review two remaining issues also raised by Edwards since they might impact the validity of the conviction.
4. Search of the truck
. A search of the truck revealed an additional ninety grams of methamphetamine. One officer found a 33-gram rock of methamphetamine inside a clear plastic bag in the outside compartment. Another sixty grams were inside a drink bottle covered in duct tape found inside the "headache rack" on the rear of the truck. On appeal, Edwards argues that the evidence from the truck is inadmissible as the search was illegal. Preliminarily, we note that there was testimony that Edwards gave his consent to the search, but Edwards at the suppression hearing denied that he consented. The judge never made a fact-finding, and we cannot on appeal resolve the factual dispute on consent.
. We find no legitimate dispute that once Edwards was arrested because of the marijuana, standard procedure was for the truck to be subjected to an inventory search before it was driven or towed to a secure location. A wrecker service was contacted, which sends a driver or tow truck. An inventory search conducted pursuant to established procedures and policies does not offend the Fourth Amendment. Robinson v. State, 418 So. 2d 749, 753 (Miss. 1982). That policy here would have led to a search inside and outside the truck before it left the site.
. With one exception all the evidence found would have been uncovered by a search conducted by these rules. The problematic item of evidence was a plastic bottle sealed with duct tape. Though there was some testimony that an officer could see all the way through the bottle, most of the evidence was that the contents were not discernible until the container was opened. The United States Supreme Court has permitted closed containers to be opened as part of an inventory search only if departmental regulations authorize it. "Our view that standardized criteria, or established routine, must regulate the opening of containers found during inventory searches is based on the principle that an inventory search must not be a ruse for a general rummaging in order to discover incriminating evidence." Florida v. Wells, 495 U.S. 1, 4 (1990) (citations omitted).
. No copies of Department of Transportation rules were introduced below and only brief mention was made during testimony. In the Florida Supreme Court decision preceding the United States Supreme Court's opinion in Florida v. Wells, there was reference made to the state agency's submitting some rules with their amicus curiae brief. State v. Wells, 539 So.2d 464, 469 (Fla. 1989). That court apparently was willing to consider evidence of state agency rules first introduced at the appellate level, though in that case no relevant rule existed. Id. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that it will take judicial notice on appeal of a state agency's rules and regulations. North Mississippi Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Collins, 317 So. 2d 913, 916 (Miss. 1975) (Board of Savings & Loan Associations rules); Board of Education of Prentiss County v. Wilburn, 223 So. 2d 665, 668 (Miss. 1969) (Educational Finance Commission rules and regulations).
. An initial search into readily
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