State v. Fairfield, 2012 Ohio 5060

Indicted on 97 counts including unlawful possession of dangerous ordnance, possession of criminal tools, receiving stolen property, and failure to secure a dangerous ordnance; pandering obscenity and perjury counts severed.
Suppression motions challenged searches at Pawnee Road and Louis Drive based on CRI-wife information from mortgage-fraud investigation.
CRI-wife provided information she and Fairfield’s wife had explosives and weapons at the two residences; later independently verified by agents.
Agent Clar obtained warrants for both locations after surveillance confirmed residence, military explosives experience, and prior weapons convictions.
Court denied suppression; Fairfield pled no contest to several counts; trial court merged some counts as allied offenses and sentenced to 16 years; on appeal, allied-offense merger issue and sentencing-consecutive-sentence issue are raised.
Appellate court ultimately affirms suppression ruling, reverses on merger, and remands for re-sentencing with state electing which allied offense to pursue.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the suppression ruling was correct	Fairfield argues the warrant relied on a non-credible CRI-wife and spousal privilege.	Fairfield contends CRI-wife should be barred and credibility not established; search was invalid.	Supression upheld; informant credibility and basis for probable cause sufficiently established.
Whether allied offenses were properly merged	State contends multiple counts arose from same conduct and single animus.	Fairfield argues offenses should not merge due to different elements and separate intents.	Allied offenses merged; reversal of sentence for remand on which offense to pursue.
Whether consecutive sentencing was proper given merger	State would seek consecutive sentences post-merger.	Consecutive sentences moot after merger decision.	Moot; remand for re-sentencing on remand proceedings.

State v. George, 45 Ohio St.3d 325 (1989) (probable cause review gives deference to magistrate; Gates framework applied)
Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983) (probable cause standard for warrants relies on totality of circumstances)
State v. Jaschik, 85 Ohio App.3d 589 (1993) (spousal privilege not bar to informant-provided information for warrants)
State v. Pustelnik, 2009-Ohio-3458 (8th Dist.) (informant reliability established by corroboration and independent verification)
State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 153 (2010) (two-part allied offenses test under R.C. 2941.25; conduct-based merging)
State v. Whitfield, 124 Ohio St.3d 319 (2010) (state election rights on remand for allied offenses)