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OH8: Inventory of wheel well was invalid

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Inventory of wheel well was with an investigative purpose and violated Fourth Amendment. State v. Wells, 2010 Ohio 2603, 2010 Ohio App. LEXIS 2145 (8th Dist. June 10, 2010): [*P11] The search at issue in this case was conducted with an investigatory intent. The Cleveland General Police Order regarding vehicle tows, pursuant to which Officer Yasenchack performed his search, provides that property found in unlocked closed containers in a vehicle shall be inventoried, and property such as jewelry, cameras, radios, and other valuables should be inventoried and removed from the car prior to tow. It says nothing about searching wheel wells as part of an inventory search. Thus, Officer Yasenchack’s search of the wheel well was not pursuant to standard police policy...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on June 12, 2010 (boomark / email).