Fourth Amendment and abandoned property
The Fourth Amendment protects you from the government, but not when it comes to abandoned property. The Ohio Supreme Court stated the obvious today when it said "[a] warrantless search of abandoned property does not violate the Fourth Amendment because any expectation of privacy is forfeited upon abandonment." The OSC took the case to reinstate the convictions and sentence of one Dennis Gould who had been sentenced to a couple life terms for sex crimes. The Court of Appeals had reversed the convictions because it believed Gould had not abandoned the hard drive that contained incriminating evidence. The Ohio Supreme Court says that Gould did abandon the hard drive as you can read in State v. Gould, 2012-Ohio-71, here.
If you are accused of a crime or have been convicted already, contact me if you can afford to hire a private criminal defense lawyer. Otherwise, contact your county or state public defender to see if they can help.
Contact me 24/7 by sending an email to ohiocriminalappealslawyer@gmail.com
