Toledo's municipal court has been improperly issuing arrest warrants for 17 years, a "flagrant" violation of protections against illegal searches and seizures, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled today. The local court should revamp its process for issuing arrest warrants, but police officers acted in good faith and the warrants themselves were valid, the high court said.

Toledo�s municipal court has been improperly issuing arrest warrants for 17 years, a �flagrant� violation of protections against illegal searches and seizures, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled today.



The local court should revamp its process for issuing arrest warrants, but police officers acted in good faith and the warrants themselves were valid, the high court said.



At issue in the 6-1 decision were three warrants granted in 2011 for a man later charged with aggravated murder.



Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger said Toledo Municipal Court was issuing warrants without requiring police to provide the source of allegations against the targets of the warrants, facts she called �seriously disturbing.�



�The uncontested evidence is that for at least 17 years, deputy clerks in the Toledo Municipal Court have not determined probable cause before issuing arrest warrants � a flagrant Fourth Amendment violation,� Lanzinger wrote for the majority.



She said the municipal court should ensure that future warrants provide what�s known as probable cause, or officers� explanation for their belief that a person committed a crime. In addition, Toledo law enforcement officers can no longer execute those warrants without a magistrate determining whether the warrants are valid, Lanzinger added.



A message seeking comment was left with the Lucas County Prosecutor�s Office, which represented the Toledo court.



Attorneys for that office argued against rejecting the warrants, saying rules preventing the use of illegally obtained evidence are meant to deter misconduct by police, not courts.



The attorneys also said police would have uncovered the evidence needed to arrest the murder suspect anyway once search warrants were issued.



Justice Paul Pfeifer dissented, saying the warrants were unconstitutional and police had to have known that.



The facts �suggest that the residents of Lucas County have been the subject of innumerable warrants that were issued as if by the police department itself,� Pfeifer wrote. �The warrants were issued virtually without scrutiny, and it is inconceivable that the officers did not realize this.�



Suspect Brandon Hoffman pleaded no contest to aggravated murder and aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 11 years for the robbery and life without parole for the homicide, according to today�s ruling.