The Ohio Supreme Court reversed itself Wednesday, issuing an opinion that makes it legal for police to search a suspect's car without permission.

        In the 5-2 decision, justices determined that “when a police officer has made a lawful ... arrest of the occupant of an automobile, the officer may ... search the passenger compartment ... of that automobile.”

        In 1992, the court outlawed such searches, saying there is no test that “justifies a rule that automatically allows police officers to search every nook and cranny of an automobile just because the driver is arrested for a traffic violation.”

        Justice Alice Robie Resnick wrote the majority opinion. Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer and Justice Paul E. Pfeifer dissented saying that the court's earlier decision was the correct one.

        The decision brought the state Constitution's provisions into alignment with a 1981 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

        Wednesday's ruling was a response to an appeal from Marvin Murrell, the defendant in a 1999 Cincinnati case.

        Police stopped Mr. Murrell for speeding Sept. 15, 1999, along eastbound Hopple Street.

        An officer arrested Mr. Murrell saying that he had an open warrant for failing to pay child support. His car was searched and police found a small cloth bag containing between five and 25 grams of powder and crack cocaine. The bag was on the floor in front of the driver's seat.

        Mr. Murrell was indicted on two counts of felony possession of cocaine.

        His lawyer, Hal Arenstein, convinced then-Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Deidra L. Hair that the search was improper and the evidence should be suppressed. The Ohio First District Court of Appeals overruled the trial court and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court.

        Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen called Wednesday's decision “an appropriate one.”

        Mr. Arenstein could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

        Because of the ruling, Mr. Murrell should be able to proceed to trial, officials said.

        The Associated Press contributed.

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