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OH5: Trial court's denial of defendant's right of access to search warrant materials was error

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The trial court erred in not ordering unsealing the search warrant materials in this case because the state did not show that the CI needed to be protected. The defendant was not seeking disclosure of the CI, just the basis for the search warrant, which he was entitled to know. State v. Lewis, 2011 Ohio 199, 2011 Ohio App. LEXIS 176 (5th Dist. January 18, 2011): [*P21] “The Court believes that the Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures includes the right to examine the affidavit that supports a warrant after the search has been conducted and a return has been filed with the Clerk of Court pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 41. It is not, however, an unqualified right. As is true with other constitutional rights it may be overridden when it is shown that precluding access is ‘essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 25, 2011 (boomark / email).