440 N.E.2d 1373 | Ohio Ct. App. | 1981
This is an appeal from a conviction for the violation of R.C.
"The trial court erred by its abuse of discretion in denying appellant's motion to suppress the evidence of Redmond's presence in appellant's home since such evidence was obtained by police without a search warrant in direct contravention of appellant's Fourth Amendment rights."
We find the assignment of error well taken for the reasons hereinafter stated. Oral argument was set for April 24, 1981. On April 23, appellant filed a notice that she intended to rely on new "evidence." See App. R. 21(H) re presenting authorities not cited in the brief. Appellant brought to this court's attention the case of Steagald v. United States (1981),
"In sum, two distinct interests were implicated by the search at issue here — Ricky Lyons' interest in being free from an unreasonable seizure and petitioner's interest in being free from an unreasonable search of his home. Because the arrest warrant for Lyons addressed only the former interest, the search of petitioner's home was no more reasonable from petitioner's perspective than it would have been if conducted in the absence of any warrant. Since warrantless searches of a home are impermissible absent consent or exigent circumstances, we conclude that the instant search violated the Fourth Amendment."Steagald v. United States, supra, at 216.
In delineating the differences between an arrest warrant and a search warrant, the Supreme Court stated the following:
"The purpose of a warrant is to allow a neutral judicial officer to assess whether the police have probable cause to make an arrest or conduct a search. * * * However, while an arrest warrant and a search warrant both serve to subject the probable-cause determination of the police to judicial review, the interests protected by the two warrants differ. An arrest warrant is issued by a magistrate upon a showing that probable cause exists to believe that the subject of the warrant has committed an offense and thus the warrant primarily serves to protect an individual from an unreasonable seizure. A search warrant, in contrast, is issued upon a showing of probable cause to believe that the legitimate object of a search is located in a particular place, and therefore safeguards an individual's interest in the privacy of his home and possessions against the unjustified intrusion of the police." Steagald v. United States,supra, at 212-213.
Appellant concludes that the Steagald decision is a logical outgrowth of the decision of Payton v. New York, supra, and that absent exigent circumstances, the search in question violated the Fourth Amendment. See Steagald, supra. The Lucas County Prosecutor has responded to the supplemental brief of appellant with a supplemental brief in which, with exemplary candor, the prosecutor concludes that the Steagald decision is applicable and controlling unless this court should find from the record that exigent circumstances were present before the officers entered the home of appellant. We find no exigent circumstances illustrated. We, therefore, find appellant's assignment of error well taken and reverse the trial court's decision relative to her motion to suppress. We vacate the judgment *153 and sentence imposed after the plea of no contest and remand this cause to the Court of Common Pleas of Lucas County for further proceedings.
Judgment reversed and cause remanded.
CONNORS, P.J., and WILEY, J., concur.
WILEY, J., retired, of the Sixth Appellate District, was assigned to active duty under authority of Section 6(C), Article IV, Constitution.