State v. Nurse, 2012 Ohio 6000

Tiffany Nurse was indicted in Summit County for endangering children, permitting drug abuse, and possession of marijuana.
Nurse moved to suppress evidence from a search warrant, arguing the issuing judge lacked authority and that probable cause was insufficient.
The trial court denied the motion to suppress; Nurse entered a no contest plea and was sentenced to two years of community control.
On appeal, Nurse asserts the visiting judge who issued the warrant lacked statutory/constitutional authority and the offenses should have merged at sentencing.
The State introduced a letter showing the Chief Justice appointed a retired judge to serve as visiting judge for Akron Municipal Court during January–March 2011; the warrant was issued March 24, 2011.
The appellate court held the visiting judge had authority and there was no reversible error regarding merger due to absence of a sentencing transcript.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Authority of the visiting judge to issue the warrant	Nurse contends the visiting judge lacked proper appointment and authority.	State contends the visiting judge was a 'judge of a court of record' and validly authorized.	Visiting judge had authority to issue the warrant.
Merger of offenses at sentencing	Nurse argues offenses are allied and should merge under R.C. 2941.25.	State contends no transcript prevents determining merger; presumptively correct.	Merger not determined due to missing sentencing transcript; judgment affirmed as to non-merger.

State v. Staten, 25 Ohio St.2d 107 (1971) (de facto officer validity not challengeable on collateral review)
State ex rel. Sowell v. Lovinger, 6 Ohio St.3d 21 (1983) (de facto officer concept applied to acting judge)
State v. Wilmoth, 22 Ohio St.3d 251 (1986) (search warrants require probable cause and proper execution)
State v. Kinney, 83 Ohio St.3d 85 (1998) (probable cause and particularity in warrants)