OH6: Violation of state strip search statute did not justify exclusion where no exclusionary remedy in statute

Defendant was twice stopped for blocking the street. On the second one, a month or so later, the officer conducted a patdown and felt a baggy of crack in his groin. The manipulation of his genitals arguably violated a state statute on strip searches, even though there was no strip search per se because the baggy was retrieved without pulling down his pants. A violation of the strip search statute has no exclusionary remedy, and the court declines to impose one. State v. Purley, 2012 Ohio 3734, 2012 Ohio App. LEXIS 3304 (6th Dist. August 17, 2012):

[*P27] The strip search statute includes a manual inspection of the proscribed areas, so there is an arguable violation. This is not, however, dispositive of the issue before us. The exclusionary rule articulated in Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961), mandates the exclusion of evidence obtained in violation of constitutional rights. In Ohio, the rule has not been applied to violations of statutory rights that fall short of constitutional violations unless there is a legislative mandate requiring application of the exclusionary rule. Kettering v. Hollen, 64 Ohio St.2d 232, 234, 416 N.E.2d 598 (1980). No such mandate exists with respect to a violation of R.C. 2933.32. As a result the exclusionary rule will not be applied. State v. Wesley, 5th Dist. No. 1999CA00226, 2000 WL 329938 (Mar. 27, 2000). Accordingly, appellant’s first assignment of error is not well-taken.