State v. Hess, 2021 Ohio 3755

Patrol stop after officer observed a 2008 Chevy station wagon driving after dark with only fog lights on and drifting left of center; officer initiated a traffic stop.
During the stop Hess had difficulty activating headlights; when he opened the glove compartment a sandwich baggie fell onto the passenger seat and Hess handed it to the officer; officer believed it contained marijuana and Hess admitted smoking earlier that day.
Officer observed glassy, bloodshot eyes, lethargic/slowed speech and movement; rolling papers were located in the glove compartment after Hess exited the vehicle.
Officer (trained in SFST and ARIDE) administered HGN (passed), walk-and-turn (failed 7 of 8 clues), and one-leg stand (stopped for inability); Hess tested negative for alcohol and was arrested for DUI (marijuana impairment).
Hess moved to suppress all evidence, arguing lack of reasonable articulable suspicion to prolong the stop for field sobriety testing and lack of substantial compliance with NHTSA standards; trial court denied suppression, Hess pled no contest to amended DUI and lighted-lights offenses, and appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
1) Whether officer had reasonable, articulable suspicion to prolong the traffic stop and conduct field sobriety testing	Totality of circumstances (traffic violations, trouble with headlights, baggie of suspected marijuana, admission of use, glassy/lethargic behavior, rolling papers) gave a reasonable suspicion of marijuana-impaired driving	Officer lacked specific, articulable facts of impairment; odor or possession of marijuana alone is insufficient; similar cases denied suspicion	Court held the officer had reasonable, articulable suspicion to detain Hess and conduct field sobriety tests under the totality of the circumstances
2) Whether officer had probable cause to arrest and whether field sobriety tests were in substantial compliance with NHTSA standards	Officer was trained (SFST, ARIDE), gave instructions and demonstrations, considered reported balance issues, and administered tests consistent with training; results (failure on walk-and-turn and inability on one-leg) gave probable cause	Tests were not shown to be in substantial compliance; officer failed to account for medical/ailment effects and should have used additional drug-specific assessments; absence of marijuana odor undermines reliability	Court found the State met its limited burden to show substantial compliance relative to the challenges raised; FSTs provided probable cause to arrest for DUI

Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (U.S. 1996) (traffic-stop reasonableness tied to probable cause for a traffic violation)
State v. Mays, 119 Ohio St.3d 406 (Ohio 2008) (constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures)
State v. Retherford, 93 Ohio App.3d 586 (Ohio Ct. App. 1994) (trial court findings of fact receive deference on suppression review)
State v. Boczar, 113 Ohio St.3d 148 (Ohio 2007) (admissibility of field sobriety test results requires foundation as to officer training and technique)
State v. Robinette, 80 Ohio St.3d 234 (Ohio 1997) (continued detention requires articulable facts supporting suspicion)
State v. Aicher, 112 N.E.3d 85 (Ohio 2018) (minor traffic violations plus limited indicia of intoxication may be insufficient for reasonable suspicion)