State v. Brown, 2017 Ohio 8315

Police received a tip from a confidential informant (with a history of reliable tips) that a person called “JB” sold marijuana and had a studio in the basement where people sold/used marijuana. The informant said JB lived at the target address.
Affiant matched JB’s initials, age, and race to James N. Brown, and Brown’s criminal history included drug trafficking/possession.
Officers performed two “trash pulls” at the residence; they found torn-corner plastic bag “tear-offs,” burnt marijuana cigarettes, and marijuana debris. The affiant explained torn bag corners were consistent with packaging for resale.
A search warrant was obtained the day after the second trash pull and executed, producing evidence that led to charges (trafficking, possession, weapon under disability, possession of criminal tools).
Brown moved to suppress, arguing lack of probable cause and that the informant’s tip was stale; he also sought disclosure of the informant’s identity. The trial court denied suppression; Brown pleaded no contest and appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether affidavit supplied probable cause for search warrant	Affidavit plus trash-pull corroboration created a fair probability of finding contraband at the residence	Affidavit was vague and did not directly tie drug sales to the residence; insufficient probable cause	Court held affidavit and trash-pull evidence, read commonsensely, supplied probable cause and affirmed
Whether informant’s tip had become stale	Trash pulls (found recently) refreshed and corroborated the tip; warrant sought promptly after corroboration	Tip went stale because police waited up to a month before conducting trash pulls	Court held no staleness problem: trash-pull evidence was recent and warrant followed the second pull
Sufficiency of trash-pull evidence to corroborate informant	Torn bag corners and marijuana remnants are consistent with drug packaging/resale per affiant’s training/experience	Evidence insufficient or ambiguous to show trafficking at the house	Court found trash evidence probative and corroborative of ongoing drug activity at the residence
Whether trial court erred by not ordering disclosure of informant	State argued informant’s identity properly withheld absent compelling need; affidavit contained corroboration	Brown argued identity needed to challenge credibility of tip	Court assumed denial of motion; held Brown failed to show a compelling need for disclosure given corroboration from trash pulls

State v. Jones, 143 Ohio St.3d 266 (Ohio 2015) (totality-of-the-circumstances test for probable cause)
Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (U.S. 1983) (informant tip evaluated under totality of the circumstances)
State v. George, 45 Ohio St.3d 325 (Ohio 1989) (affidavits judged in common-sense, not hypertechnical, manner)
United States v. Lacy, 119 F.3d 742 (9th Cir. 1997) (when information becomes stale depends on likelihood items remain on premises)
State ex rel. Scott v. Streetsboro, 150 Ohio St.3d 1 (Ohio 2016) (failure to rule on pretrial motion is treated as an overruling)
State v. Williams, 4 Ohio St.3d 74 (Ohio 1983) (balancing defendant’s right to confront informant against public interest in confidentiality)