State v. West, 2017 Ohio 7521

Background

On Feb 22, 2015 Thomas West allegedly threatened family members in the home, fired a handgun near his daughter, held the gun to her head, demanded a shotgun, and later left; the family fled and called 911.
Deputies found a shotgun and shells in the backyard under a mobile home; detectives later recovered a handgun after the victim (Jasmin) twice consented to searches and led officers to the weapon.
West was indicted on felonious assault (with firearm spec), two counts of weapons under disability, tampering with evidence, and a forfeiture specification; he asserted repeated jurisdictional/sovereign-citizen objections and intermittently sought to represent himself.
Trial counsel moved to suppress the weapon evidence and raised jurisdictional and competency/sanity issues; the trial court found West competent and sane and denied suppression.
A jury convicted West of one count of felonious assault with a firearm spec, both weapons-under-disability counts, and tampering with evidence; the court imposed an aggregate seven-year sentence and ordered court costs.
On appeal West challenged (1) imposition of court costs/attorney fees, (2) denial of the suppression motion (consent), (3) denial of his request to self-represent, and (4) effectiveness of trial counsel; the appellate court affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Court costs and attorney fees imposed	State: court properly imposed court costs; no attorney-fee order was entered	West: court erred by imposing costs without considering ability to pay and by imposing attorney fees	Court: Costs were proper under R.C. 2947.23; court did not order attorney fees; R.C. 2929.19 ability-to-pay rule inapplicable to court costs; failure to specify amount at sentencing not reversible
Waiver/consent to warrantless search	State: Jasmin (victim/occupant) consented and officers reasonably believed she had authority to permit search of yard	West: Jasmin lacked authority (tenant) so consent invalid and evidence should be suppressed	Court: Consent valid; even if actual authority lacking, officers reasonably believed she had common/apparent authority; suppression denial affirmed
Right to self-representation	State: trial court permissibly required clear, unequivocal waiver and made sufficient inquiry; court could appoint standby counsel	West: court denied his Sixth Amendment right to represent himself	Court: Denial proper—West was not clear and unequivocal, repeatedly requested counsel or allowed counsel to act, and the court conducted an adequate colloquy under circumstances
Ineffective assistance of counsel (costs / suppression / representation)	State: counsel raised suppression and other motions; timing/strategy on cost waiver permissible; no prejudice shown	West: counsel failed to move to waive costs at sentencing, failed to preserve suppression argument, and failed to secure self-representation	Court: Claims fail—counsel pursued suppression; post-2013 law allows later cost-waiver motions so no deficiency/prejudice shown; no meritorious claim of ineffective assistance regarding self-representation

Key Cases Cited

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (procedure when appellate counsel finds no meritorious issues)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
White v. State, 103 Ohio St.3d 580 (court costs imposed against indigent defendants under Ohio law)
Matlock v. United States, 415 U.S. 164 (third-party common authority to consent to search)
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (voluntariness standard for consent searches)
Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (right to self-representation)
Von Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U.S. 708 (requirements for knowing and intelligent waiver of counsel)
McKaskle v. Wiggins, 465 U.S. 168 (standby counsel and limits on self-representation)
Indiana v. Edwards, 554 U.S. 164 (limits on self-representation where competency issues exist)