State v. Brown, 2019 Ohio 4753

Background

Early morning May 1, 2015: Columbus officers responded to a reported burglary; they found Ronald E. Brown inside the apartment, ordered him to the living room, handcuffed him, and performed a pat-down.
During the pat-down Brown spontaneously told the officer he had a baggie of powder cocaine; the officer recovered cocaine from Brown's pocket and arrested him.
Indicted October 7, 2016 for possession of cocaine (second-degree felony); Brown filed a suppression motion (denied after evidentiary hearing) and a statutory speedy-trial dismissal motion (denied). Brown entered a no-contest plea November 16, 2017; plea filed November 20, 2017.
Sentenced December 19, 2018 to five years’ imprisonment; the trial court awarded 199 days jail-time credit.
Appeals: Brown challenges denial of suppression, denial of speedy-trial dismissal, and effectiveness of counsel; the State cross-appeals the jail-time credit award.
This court affirmed the trial court on suppression, speedy-trial, and ineffective-assistance claims, granted the State leave to cross-appeal, and reversed the jail-time-credit award in part (remanding to correct credit).

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Legality of detention and pat-down (Fourth Amendment/Terry)	Officers had reasonable, articulable suspicion because they were responding to a burglary in progress and were directed to the suspect inside the apartment.	Pat-down was unjustified: no signs of disturbance, no aggressive or furtive behavior, no bulge or other indicia of a weapon.	Denial of suppression affirmed: totality of circumstances supported detention and weapon-frisk under Terry.
Motion to dismiss under R.C. 2941.401 (statutory speedy-trial for incarcerated defendants)	Time was tolled by defendant and other statutory events; final disposition occurred within 180 days after notice was received by prosecutor.	180 days elapsed between prosecutor’s receipt of the inmate notice and plea; dismissal required.	Denial affirmed: independent day-count showed only 62 state- chargeable days; no statutory speedy-trial violation.
Ineffective assistance (counsel’s handling of speedy-trial claim)	N/A (State) — counsel’s performance not prejudicial because no speedy-trial violation occurred.	Counsel miscalculated speedy-trial time and rendered ineffective assistance.	Denial affirmed: no prejudice because statutory speedy-trial rights were not violated.
State cross-appeal: jail-time credit awarded by trial court	Trial court overstated credit; defendant was serving an unrelated prison term, so only days actually attributable to this case count.	Defendant argued entitlement to 199 days (including 150 days in Franklin County jail during pendency).	Cross-appeal sustained in part: trial court abused discretion by awarding 150 days for unrelated incarceration; defendant entitled only to credit tied to this offense (49 days).

Key Cases Cited

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) (permits investigative stop and limited pat-down for weapons based on reasonable, articulable suspicion)
State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St.3d 152 (2003) (appellate review of suppression is mixed question; trial-court factual findings get deference)
State v. Bobo, 37 Ohio St.3d 177 (1988) (stop/detention evaluated under totality of circumstances; view through eyes of reasonable, cautious officer)
State v. Andrews, 57 Ohio St.3d 86 (1991) (summarizes Terry principles for investigative stops and frisks)
State v. Hairston, 101 Ohio St.3d 308 (2004) (R.C. 2941.401 requires inmate to notify prosecutor and court of place of imprisonment to start 180-day period)
State v. Gonzales, 150 Ohio St.3d 261 (2016) (Gonzales I) (addressed cocaine-weightproofing for mixed substances)
State v. Gonzales, 150 Ohio St.3d 276 (2017) (Gonzales II) (reconsideration holding entire compound weight used to determine cocaine-possession penalty)
State v. Ramey, 132 Ohio St.3d 309 (2012) (R.C. 2945.72 provides exhaustive list of tolling events for speedy-trial calculations)