State v. Levell, 2017 Ohio 9055

In April 2014 Montgomery County deputies stopped a vehicle driven by Ebon Levell for expired registration; inventory of the car revealed multiple boxes of prescription drugs labeled to residents at Wood Glen Alzheimer’s Community.
Deputies seized boxes of Seroquel (quetiapine) and Valtrex (valacyclovir); lab analysis confirmed both were prescription-only drugs.
Levell told officers his wife, Tyreca Rippley, a Wood Glen nurse, had been stealing items from the facility and that he had seen stolen medication accumulating in her car.
Prosecutors initially declined charges in 2014; after a later health-department investigation, Levell was indicted in 2016 on two counts of receiving stolen property (dangerous drugs), each a fourth-degree felony.
The seized medication had been destroyed in 2014. At bench trial Levell moved (orally) to dismiss and later renewed the motion after trial; the court found the drugs were potentially useful but not materially exculpatory and not destroyed in bad faith, convicted Levell, and sentenced him to community control.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether convictions for receiving stolen property (dangerous drugs) are against the manifest weight of the evidence	State: Levell constructively possessed the stolen prescription drugs found in the car and knew they were stolen	Levell: State did not prove ownership/that he had possession or knowledge of the specific medication found	Court: Evidence supports constructive possession and knowledge; convictions not against manifest weight
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a suppression motion regarding destroyed evidence	State: Counsel litigated dismissal on destruction grounds; suppression would not have succeeded	Levell: Counsel should have filed a suppression motion to probe bad-faith destruction and lost testing opportunity	Court: No deficiency or prejudice shown; suppression would have been futile because court already found no bad faith and evidence not materially exculpatory

State v. Montgomery, 148 Ohio St.3d 347 (Ohio 2016) (defines manifest-weight review standard for Ohio courts)
State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380 (Ohio 1997) (articulates weight-of-the-evidence standard)
State v. Rhodes, 2 Ohio St.3d 74 (Ohio 1982) (actor’s relationship to property controls whether defendant had lawful right to possession)
State v. Hankerson, 70 Ohio St.2d 87 (Ohio 1982) (constructive possession requires conscious awareness of presence)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-part test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
State v. Nields, 93 Ohio St.3d 6 (Ohio 2001) (failure to file motion not ineffective when no reasonable probability of success)
State v. Geeslin, 116 Ohio St.3d 252 (Ohio 2007) (due-process test for destroyed evidence: materially exculpatory vs. potentially useful and bad faith)
State v. Ruby, 149 Ohio App.3d 541 (Ohio Ct. App. 2002) (constructive possession found where defendant drove vehicle containing contraband and had awareness/control)
Criss v. Kent, 867 F.2d 259 (6th Cir. 1988) (applying Ohio law on constructive possession of stolen property in premises under control)