Background

• Terrell was convicted in Clark County for cocaine possession (over 1000 g), crack cocaine possession (over 25 g), and ecstasy possession; he received an aggregate 29-year term, a $20,000 fine, and a 15-year license suspension after a finding he qualified as a major drug offender.
• On appeal, Terrell challenges the trial court’s denial of a pre-trial suppression motion directed at evidence obtained from a search of 239 East Grand Avenue, Springfield, Ohio.
• Detective Velez submitted a June 1, 2010 warrant affidavit listing a DTO and several surveillance and independent-investigation verifications; a confidential informant (CS#1) was said to have provided information later verified by trash pulls, vehicle identifications, and utility-subscription data.
• The suppression court overruled the motion; on appeal the court held the warrant affidavit did not provide a substantial basis for probable cause to search 239 East Grand Avenue, sustaining the second assignment of error and suppressing the evidence; remanded for further proceedings.
• The court also addressed sufficiency of the evidence claim related to knowledge of the drugs at the Springfield home and, although suppression mooted other issues, affirmed the sufficiency finding for the remaining aspects of the first assignment of error.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213 (1983) (probable-cause standard under totality of the circumstances)
• State v. George, 45 Ohio St.3d 325 (1989) (magistrate’s probable-cause determination with deference on review)
• Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914) (exclusionary rule’s application to searches and seizures)
• Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160 (1949) (limits on evidence obtained in violation of Fourth Amendment)