OH5: Inventory was valid [even though it was a criminal search]

The officer had an outstanding arrest warrant for defendant for domestic violence. Defendant wasn’t at home, but he was found with the car parked elsewhere. After defendant’s arrest, even though the car was legally parked, the officer directed the car be impounded. The search of the car was thus valid[!], even though the court admits that the officer was looking for evidence of the past domestic dispute, bootstrapping looking for a gun into justification. State v. Leak, 2014-Ohio-2492, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 2425 (5th Dist. June 9, 2014)*:

[*P15] No evidence was presented as to the vehicle’s ownership, except for Officer Anschutz’s belief at the time of the arrest that appellant was the owner. Also, Officer Anschutz testified he always looks “for evidence of a crime because I didn’t know where the domestic violence happened.” T. at 12.

[*P16] Although appellant argues Officer Anschutz was not one hundred percent sure of the vehicle’s ownership, the record establishes at the time of the arrest, he believed that appellant owned the car. Because the individual who he believed to be the owner of the vehicle had just been arrested, Officer Anschutz decided to impound the vehicle which was done in accordance with department policy. South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 96 S. Ct. 3092, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1000 (1976).

[*P17] The facts sub judice support the officer’s belief that appellant was the owner of the vehicle, and appellant was personally identified in relation to this specific vehicle. Of further consequence, the immediate ownership may not have been available because the vehicle had an out-of-state registration.

[*P18] Although the officer may have been wrong in deducing that appellant owned the vehicle, the officer’s subjective belief was sufficient to establish the legitimacy of the law.

[*P19] Upon review, we find the trial court did not err in denying appellant’s motion to suppress.

To me, this case is clearly wrong because the inventory was clearly a search for evidence of a past crime.