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OH6: Computer hard drive brought to police was not abandoned property just because they couldn't find their suspect

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant’s mother discovered that he had child pornography on his computer, and she brought the hard drive to the police. The police made some effort to locate the defendant, but he was hard to find because the police were looking for him. They decided to declare the hard drive abandoned and searched it, but the court found no evidence of abandonment. State v. Gould, 2010 Ohio 3437, 2010 Ohio App. LEXIS 2925 (6th Dist. July 23, 2010): [*P28] The state contends that the hard drive was abandoned by appellant. Abandoned property is not subject to Fourth Amendment protection. Abel v. United States (1960), 362 U.S. 217, 80 S. Ct. 683, 4 L. Ed. 2d 668. “Abandonment is primarily a question of intent, and intent may be inferred from words spoken, acts done, and other objective facts...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 27, 2010 (boomark / email).