State v. Leak (Slip Opinion)

{¶ 1} Appellant, Quayshaun Leak, was arrested on a warrant -following a domestic-violence incident. Immediately prior to his arrest, he was a passenger in a car legally parked on a public street. In this case, we are asked to determine whether the warrantless inventory search of a lawfully parked vehicle violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution. We conclude that in this case, it does.

{¶ 2} The state urges us to adopt a rule of law stating that the arrest of a recent occupant of a legally parked vehicle establishes an…