State v. Howe, 2021 Ohio 1676

Jennifer Howe was indicted for aggravated possession of drugs (felony 5) after deputies responded to a report of a woman lingering at a Country Corral gas station and clerks expressed welfare concerns.
Deputies ran Howe’s name on a patrol computer before contact, discovered active arrest warrants and a license photo, then located and identified her sitting outside with a purse and duffle bag.
After confirming the warrants, deputies arrested Howe, performed a weapons pat-down, and searched her bags; they found a tin with a substance Howe later acknowledged as methamphetamine.
Howe moved to suppress the evidence, arguing a Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violation; the trial court held a suppression hearing, credited deputy testimony, and denied the motion.
Howe pleaded no contest (with consent to a finding of guilt and a stipulated factual basis); the sentencing journal entry incorrectly stated she pleaded guilty.
On appeal, the Sixth District affirmed denial of the suppression motion and remanded solely for a nunc pro tunc entry correcting the plea notation to no contest.

Issue	State's Argument	Howe's Argument	Held
Whether the warrantless search of Howe’s purse/bags violated the Fourth Amendment	Search was lawful as search-incident-to-arrest after deputies learned of active warrants and arrested Howe	Denial of suppression was against the manifest weight; search violated 4th/14th Amendments	Affirmed: trial court’s factual findings were credible; search was lawful incident to arrest
Whether the judgment entry must state the specific plea and whether the journal entry must be corrected	Crim.R. 32(C) no longer requires specifying manner of conviction; entry still effective if it sets forth fact of conviction and sentence	Journal entry incorrectly states plea of guilty instead of no contest and should be corrected to reflect actual plea	Mixed: Rule 32(C) does not require stating the plea, but clerical error may be corrected; remanded for nunc pro tunc entry to record no contest plea

Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (U.S. 2009) (limits scope of search incident to arrest to area within arrestee’s immediate control)
State v. Adams, 45 N.E.3d 127 (Ohio 2015) (search-incident-to-arrest covers items the arrestee had within immediate control near time of arrest)
State v. Burnside, 797 N.E.2d 71 (Ohio 2003) (standard of review for mixed questions on suppression: defer to trial court on facts, review legal conclusions de novo)
State v. Brooks, 661 N.E.2d 1030 (Ohio 1996) (trial court credibility findings on suppression are given deference)
State v. Mills, 582 N.E.2d 972 (Ohio 1992) (trial court acts as trier of fact at suppression hearings)
State v. Mathews, 346 N.E.2d 151 (Ohio 1976) (upholding search of a purse carried by arrestee as incident to arrest)
State v. Miller, 940 N.E.2d 924 (Ohio 2010) (trial court speaks through its journal entries; clerical errors may be corrected)
State v. McNamara, 707 N.E.2d 539 (Ohio App. 1998) (appellate court independently determines whether facts meet legal standard after deferring to trial court findings)