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Defendant's failure to respond to question about whether he had drugs was not cause to search

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The officer saw a car in the parking lot of a school in the early morning hours, and he pulled into the lot, too. The car moved to another, smaller light, and was cornered, and the officer pulled in behind him. He questioned the occupants, and asked about whether they had drugs in the car, with no justification whatsoever, just to see how they answered. One did, and defendant didn't. Based on the lack of an answer, the officer searched, and it was completely without cause. State v. Rackow, 2008 Ohio 507, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 432 (9th Dist. February 11, 2008): [*P15] In this case, the officer reacted to a suspicion that was aroused only by the fact that Mr. Rackow did not immediately deny having anything illegal in his possession. The officer admitted he had seen nothing suspicious since approaching the vehicle and he had dispelled any suspicion created by the initial report of a car in the school parking lot...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 13, 2008 (boomark / email).