{"id":2519,"date":"2008-10-06T06:39:39","date_gmt":"2008-10-04T16:26:22","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-06T06:39:39","slug":"en-US","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=2519","title":{"rendered":"OH8: Opening aerosol can in trunk exceeded inventory search"},"content":{"rendered":"

Officer during an inventory of a car shook an apparent aerosol can because cans with false bottoms were commonly used to hide things. The officer felt something moving inside this one that was not liquid, so he opened it. The can was not being subjected to an inventory search when it was searched; it was a criminal evidentiary search. State v. Seals<\/a>, 2008 Ohio 5117, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 4318 (8th Dist. October 2, 2008):<\/p>\n

[*P15] In Hathman<\/em>, officers arrested Hathman and conducted an inventory search of his vehicle. During the inventory search, an officer opened and searched the vehicle’s trunk and discovered a plastic bag. The bag contained several smaller bags and a pill bottle. These containers were then opened and found to contain contraband. The officer testified his department’s standard policy permitted him to inventory all “accessible” areas of the car.<\/p>\n

[*P16] The Supreme Court held that the search of the trunk itself was reasonable because the trunk is part of an automobile that is normally included in the scope of an inventory search, and that testimony established that it was standard procedure to search such areas. However, the Court concluded that the evidence discovered in the containers should be suppressed because, in accordance with Bertine<\/em><\/a> and Wells<\/em><\/a>, supra,” the existence of a reasonable policy or procedure governing inventory searches in general is insufficient to justify the opening of closed containers encountered” during the inventory search. Rather, some articulated policy must also exist which regulates the opening of containers found during the authorized inventory search.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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