State v. Brown, 992 N.E.2d 1172

State v. Brown involves a probate division judge issuing a search warrant for a commercial business, leading to gambling charges against Brown.
Alliance Municipal Court granted Brown’s suppression motion challenging the probate judge’s authority to issue the warrant.
State appealed the suppression ruling, contending the warrant was valid and seized evidence should not be suppressed.
R.C. 2931.01(B)-(C) exclude probate judges from issuing warrants; issue is whether that exclusion is still valid after Modern Courts amendments.
Appellate court held probate judge lacked authority to issue search warrants, reversed suppression, and remanded for further proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a probate division judge has authority to issue a search warrant	Brown argues probate judge cannot issue warrants	State contends probate judge can issue warrants	probate judge lacks authority (assignment not pursuant to §5(A)(3))
Whether suppression was proper for items in plain view notwithstanding lack of valid warrant	State argues suppression inappropriate for plain-view items	Brown argues exclusionaries apply regardless of plain view	moot after ruling on authority; suppression reversal reflects lack of warrant authority
Whether good-faith exception preserves admissibility when warrant later deemed invalid	State relies on Leon good-faith	Brown argues no good faith when warrant invalid	Third assignment sustained; good faith does not save invalid probate-warrant issuance

State v. Cotton, 56 Ohio St.2d 8 (Ohio 1978) (probate division authority issue narrowed by constitutional amendments)
State v. Bays, 87 Ohio St.3d 15 (Ohio 1999) (similar result on probate/Criminal jurisdiction issues)
United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897 (U.S. 1984) (good-faith exception to suppression for reasonable reliance on warrant)