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OH8: Opening aerosol can in trunk exceeded inventory search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

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, 2008 Ohio 5117, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 4318 (8th Dist. October 2, 2008): [*P15] In Hathman, 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...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 04, 2008 (boomark / email).