State v. Weisgarber, 2017 Ohio 8764

Police officer Jordan West (hospital police) went to an ER treatment room after staff reported Robert Weisgarber had been brought in for a drug overdose and had received/responded to Narcan.
West (in uniform, armed but did not display or touch weapons) entered the private treatment room, approached Weisgarber on the bed, and immediately asked if Weisgarber had any drugs or weapons.
West asked for consent to search; Weisgarber replied “Okay.” West searched and found a digital scale in Weisgarber’s pants pocket.
Weisgarber was lying on the bed, had recently received Narcan, and the officer described him as “slightly intoxicated” but coherent; West did not test Weisgarber’s comprehension or call medical staff as witnesses.
Weisgarber was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and moved to suppress the physical evidence and statements; the municipal court granted the motion.
The appellate court affirmed: it held the encounter was an investigatory detention (not a consensual encounter) and that the State failed to prove Weisgarber’s consent was voluntary.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the contact was a consensual encounter or a seizure/Terry stop	Contact was consensual; officer merely asked questions and sought consent	Officer initiated a seizure by entering a private treatment room and asking about drugs/weapons, conveying authority	Court: Not consensual — an investigatory detention (Terry stop) occurred
Whether Weisgarber voluntarily consented to the search	Weisgarber voluntarily consented by saying “Okay”; no coercive tactics used	Consent was not voluntary given Weisgarber’s medical status, location, officer’s assertion of authority, and no advisement of right to refuse	Court: Consent not voluntary; State failed to meet clear-and-positive-evidence burden

Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) (police may briefly stop/detain on reasonable, articulable suspicion)
United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544 (1980) (consensual encounter vs. seizure—reasonable person test)
Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (1991) (totality test whether a reasonable person would feel free to decline requests/terminate encounter)
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973) (voluntariness of consent evaluated under totality of the circumstances)
Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 U.S. 543 (1968) (State must show consent was freely and voluntarily given; mere acquiescence to authority insufficient)
Michigan v. Chesternut, 486 U.S. 567 (1988) (reasonable person standard for freedom to terminate encounter)
State v. Retherford, 93 Ohio App.3d 586 (1995) (trial court as factfinder in suppression hearings)
State v. Orr, 91 Ohio St.3d 389 (2001) (Fourth Amendment protections)
State v. Bobo, 37 Ohio St.3d 177 (1988) (Terry stop analyzed by totality of circumstances)