State v. Dotson, 2018 Ohio 499

Deputies responded to a 9-1-1 call of suspected vehicle tampering in a Home Depot lot; Dotson matched the suspect description.
Officers asked Dotson to consent to a pat-down for weapons; Deputies recovered a pocket knife and a thin straw (allegedly used for snorting drugs).
Officers later searched Dotson’s car and seized marijuana, a pipe, and pills; charges were based on items found in the car.
At the suppression hearing Dotson contested only the pat-down (testified he did not consent); defense counsel expressly waived contesting the car search.
Trial court credited officer testimony that Dotson consented to the pat-down and denied suppression; court of appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was the warrantless pat-down reasonable?	State: pat-down for weapons was consented to and lawful.	Dotson: no indication he was armed/dangerous; pat-down unreasonable.	Court: pat-down was consensual but consent was limited to weapons; seizure of the straw was not justified.
Was Dotson's consent voluntary?	State: consent valid.	Dotson: consent involuntary under totality of circumstances.	Court: did not decide voluntariness because seizure of the straw failed on plain-feel grounds.
Did plain-feel justify seizing the straw as contraband?	State: straw was contraband and lawfully seized.	Dotson: straw was not readily identifiable as contraband by touch.	Court: seizure of the straw failed under Dickerson—not immediately apparent as contraband, so unlawful.
Were car-search fruits of illegal seizure; was waiver/ineffective assistance?	State: waiver by defense to car-search issue; prosecution not required to justify car search at hearing.	Dotson: car evidence was fruit of poisonous tree from illegal straw seizure; counsel ineffective for waiving challenge.	Court: Dotson waived challenge to car search at hearing; ineffective-assistance claim fails because record undeveloped and prejudice not shown.

Xenia v. Wallace, 37 Ohio St.3d 216 (search burden on state where no warrant)
State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St.3d 152 (defer to trial court factual findings, review law de novo)
Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248 (scope of consent measured objectively)
Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366 (plain-feel doctrine limits seizure of nonweapon contraband)
State v. Milhouse, 133 Ohio App.3d 527 (applying Dickerson in Ohio)
State v. Rogers, 143 Ohio St.3d 385 (definition of waiver)
Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (fruit-of-the-poisonous-tree/taint principles)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective-assistance standard)
State v. Bradley, 42 Ohio St.3d 136 (Ohio ineffective-assistance precedent)
State v. Skaggs, 53 Ohio St.2d 162 (appellate burden to show error by record)