State v. RobyState v. Roby
D E C I S I O N
On brief: Ron O‘Brien, Prosecuting Attorney, and Seth L. Gilbert, for appellant. Argued: Seth L. Gilbert.
On brief: Yeura R. Venters, Public Defender, and Timothy E. Pierce, for appellee. Argued: Timothy E. Pierce.
APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas
{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, State of Ohio, appeals the April 27, 2016 decision and entry of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granting the motion of defendant-appellee, Ryan M. Roby, to suppress evidence. For the following reasons, we reverse.
I. Facts and Procedural History
{¶ 2} On July 2, 2015, a Franklin County Grand Jury filed an indictment charging defendant with two criminal counts: one count of possession of cocaine, in violation of
{¶ 3} On October 26, 2015, defendant filed a motion to suppress/exclude testimony. On November 16, 2015, the state filed a memorandum contra defendant‘s motion to suppress. On March 29, 2016, the state filed a supplemental memorandum contra motion to suppress.
{¶ 4} On April 26, 2016, the trial court held a suppression hearing. The parties stipulated to the admission of three exhibits in lieu of presenting testimony. The three exhibits included copies of a handwritten police report prepared by Officer John Kim of the City of Bexley Police Department, and a typed narrative supplement prepared by Officer Kim.
{¶ 5} On April 27, 2016, the trial court filed a decision and entry granting defendant‘s motion to suppress evidence and exclude testimony.
II. Assignment of Error
{¶ 6} The state appeals and assigns the following single assignment of error for our review:
The trial court committed reversible error in sustaining Roby‘s motion to suppress.
III. Discussion
{¶ 7} In its single assignment of error, the state contends the trial court erred in granting defendant‘s motion to suppress. Specifically, the state contends that (1) defendant voluntarily abandoned the contraband before he was seized, thereby relinquishing any privacy interest in the contraband, (2) the arrest did not violate
A. Standard of Review
{¶ 8} “The review of a motion to suppress is a mixed question of law and fact.” State v. Castagnola, 145 Ohio St.3d 1, 2015-Ohio-1565, ¶ 32, citing State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St.3d 152, 2003-Ohio-5372, ¶ 8. In evaluating the motion to suppress, the trial court acts as the finder of fact and, therefore, is in the best position to resolve factual questions and evaluate the credibility of witnesses. Burnside at ¶ 8. Therefore, we must accept the trial court‘s findings of fact if they are supported by competent, credible evidence. Id. “Accepting these facts as true, the appellate court must then independently determine, without deference to the conclusion of the trial court, whether the facts satisfy the applicable legal standard.” Id. See also State v. Johnson, 10th Dist. No. 13AP-637, 2014-Ohio-671, ¶ 6 (“We apply a de novo standard in determining whether the trial court properly denied appellant‘s motion to suppress.“).
{¶ 9} The trial court made the following factual findings, which we must accept as true if they are supported by competent, credible evidence:
On Friday, August 29, 2014, at approximately 10:50 a.m., Officer John Kim of the Bexley Police Department observed [defendant] walking northbound on N. Cassady Avenue at the intersection of Bellwood Avenue. Defendant was walking with a female, later identified as
Melissa Laurie. Officer Kim, for reasons unexplained, knew [defendant] possibly had an active warrant out of the City of Whitehall, located in Franklin County, Ohio. Officer Kim verified the warrant via the radio dispatcher, and executed a stop of [defendant] and Laurie at N. Cassady Avenue and Avalon Place. Upon approach, “[defendant] was informed that he had a warrant and was under arrest.” (Ex. 2.) Officer Kim observed [defendant] attempt to get behind Ms. Laurie and hand something off to her. Officer Glick arrived at the scene and assisted Officer Kim in placing [defendant] in handcuffs. Prior to Glick‘s arrival, Kim observed Laurie throw something toward the front of the marked cruiser. Officer Glick later inspected the thrown item(s), and recovered two straws and “a bindle of a white powdery substance.” (Ex. 3.) The white substance field-tested positive for heroin.
There is no allegation in the stipulated police reports that Defendant and Laurie committed a criminal offense while Officer Kim observed [defendant] and verified the warrant.
(Footnotes omitted.) (Decision and Entry at 1-2.) In its findings of fact, the trial court noted that “[t]he Parties agree a bench warrant was issued by Whitehall Mayor‘s Court, on or about September 4, 2014, in the Defendant‘s name, for failure to pay a fine and costs in Whitehall Mayor‘s Court Case No. 14MCR-00182, as part of Defendant‘s sentence for Petty Theft, in violation of Whitehall City Ordinance 537.07(A)(1).” (Decision and Entry at 2, fn. 2.) The state attached to its supplemental memorandum contra the motion to suppress a copy of a bench warrant from the Whitehall Mayor‘s Court in case No. 14MCR-00182 that provided in pertinent part as follows:
Chief of Police of said City of Whitehall, greeting: The State of Ohio, Franklin County, SS. It appearing to the court this day 16 July 2014, that one Ryan M Roby * * * has failed to pay fine and cost (Petty Theft 537.07A1).
These therefore are to command you to take the said Ryan M Roby if he/she be found in your county or if he/she is not found in your county, that you pursue after him/her in any county in this state, and take and safely keep him/her so that you have his/her body forthwith before said court.
Given under my hand and official seal, this day July 16, 2014.
Bond $ 375.00 cash only. No surcharge. If not paid must serve 20 days. No court appearance necessary.
(Supp. Memo. Contra, exhibit.) Furthermore, the trial court noted the parties agreed that the location where Officer Kim stopped defendant and Laurie was outside the limits of the city of Bexley in the city of Columbus.
B. Applicable Law
{¶ 10} The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, provides that “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or other things to be seized.” Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution contains a nearly identical provision:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the person and things to be seized.
See also
{¶ 11} Historically, the protections afforded by Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution have been construed as coextensive with the protections of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. State v. Geraldo, 68 Ohio St.2d 120, 125-26 (1981) (“We are disinclined to impose greater restrictions in the absence of explicit state constitutional guarantees protecting against invasions of privacy that clearly transcend the Fourth Amendment. * * * It is our opinion that the reach of Section 14, Article I, of the Ohio Constitution * * * is coextensive with that of the Fourth Amendment.“); State v. Robinette, 80 Ohio St.3d 234, 239 (1997) (stating that courts “should harmonize * * * interpretation of Section 14, Article I of the Ohio Constitution with the Fourth Amendment, unless there are persuasive reasons to find otherwise“); State v. Jones, 88 Ohio St.3d 430, 434 (2000), modified in State v. Brown, 99 Ohio St.3d 323, 2003-Ohio-3931, syllabus. However, it is well-recognized that states may “rely on their own constitutions to provide broader protection for individual rights, independent of protections afforded by the United States Constitution.” Robinette at 238. See Arnold v. Cleveland, 67 Ohio St.3d 35, 38 (1993), paragraph one of the syllabus (“In the areas of individual rights and civil liberties, the United States Constitution, where applicable to the states, provides a floor below which state court decisions may not fall.“). Thus, in certain circumstances, the Supreme Court of Ohio has construed Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution as providing greater protection than the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Brown at ¶ 22; State v. Brown, 143 Ohio St.3d 444, 2015-Ohio-2438, ¶ 23. See Robinette at 238 (noting that a “state may impose greater restrictions on police activity pursuant to its own state constitution than is required by federal constitutional standards“).
{¶ 12} “The touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness.” Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248, 250 (1991), citing Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 360 (1967). “The Fourth Amendment does not proscribe all state-initiated searches and seizures; it merely proscribes those which are unreasonable.” Id. In keeping with this principle, both the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, and Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution prohibit the government from conducting warrantless searches and seizures, subject to certain exceptions. Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 338 (2009), quoting Katz at 357 (” ‘[S]earches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment—subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions.’ “); State v. Limoli, 10th Dist. No. 11AP-924, 2012-Ohio-4502, ¶ 20, citing State v. Fowler, 10th Dist. No. 10AP-658, 2011-Ohio-3156, ¶ 11-12.
{¶ 13} Finally, ” ‘[a] seizure is equivalent to an arrest when: (1) there is an intent to arrest; (2) under real or pretended authority; (3) accompanied by an actual or constructive seizure or detention;
C. Analysis
1. Point of Seizure
{¶ 14} The state admits that Officer Kim ultimately seized defendant, but contends that “[defendant] was not seized until [Officer] Kim physically detained him, which occurred after [defendant] passed the drugs to Laurie.” (Emphasis sic.) (State‘s Brief at 11.) However, defendant contends that “Officer Kim‘s initial encounter with [defendant] and [Laurie] was nonconsensual.” (Defendant‘s Brief at 9.)
{¶ 15} The trial court did not expressly state when the seizure of defendant occurred. However, the court went on to analyze whether the “execution of the Whitehall warrant” and the “resulting search, seizure and arrest” violated
{¶ 17} Here, the record reflects that Officer Kim observed defendant and Laurie walking. The record also reflects that as a result of their initial encounter with Officer Kim, defendant and Laurie halted and remained where they were. Officer Kim‘s statement that defendant and Laurie “were stopped” in addition to his statement that he was able to “get them stopped” supports a finding that the encounter was nonconsensual.
{¶ 18} More significantly, Officer Kim‘s statement informing defendant that he was under arrest constituted an obvious show of authority such that a reasonable person would not have felt free to leave. The state concedes as much, but contends that defendant did not submit to the show of authority because he moved behind Laurie and passed an object to her. (State‘s Brief at 10.) Therefore, the state argues that Officer Kim‘s act of telling defendant he was under arrest was an attempted seizure, and defendant was not actually seized until Officer Kim “physically detained him.” (State‘s Brief at 11.)
{¶ 19} “A police officer may make a seizure by a show of authority and without the use of physical force, but there is no seizure without actual submission; otherwise, there is at most an attempted seizure, so far as the Fourth Amendment is concerned.” Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249, 254 (2007), citing California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 626, n. 2 (1991).3 “[W]hat may amount to submission depends on what a person was doing before the show of authority: a fleeing man is not seized until he is physically overpowered, but one sitting in a chair may submit to authority by not getting up to run away.” Id. at 262. See United States v. Lowe, 791 F.3d 424, 431 (3d Cir.2015) (finding that “[w]hen a suspect flees after a show of authority, the moment of submission is often quite clear: It is when the fleeing suspect stops, whether voluntarily or as a result of the application of physical force“).
{¶ 21} The state cites two cases, United States v. Mosley, 743 F.3d 1317 (10th Cir.2014), and United States v. Johnson, 212 F.3d 1313 (D.C.Cir.2000), in support of its argument that defendant did not submit to the show of authority. In Mosley at 1327, the defendant was ordered to show his hands, but instead “began making furtive motions consistent with hiding—or worse, retrieving—a gun.” In Johnson, 212 F.3d 1313, the defendant was ordered by an officer to raise his hands, but instead of complying, the defendant made ” ‘shoving down’ motions, gestures that were the very opposite of complying with [the officer‘s] order, and which a reasonable officer could have thought were actually suggestive of hiding (or retrieving) a gun.” Id. at 1316-17. In both cases, the courts found that the defendant‘s actions in appearing to conceal a weapon did not demonstrate submission to authority sufficient for a seizure to have occurred. However, unlike in those cases, the record in this case does not reflect that Officer Kim believed that defendant was taking actions consistent with hiding or retrieving a weapon. Therefore, we do not find those cases dispositive in the present matter. Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence supports the finding that defendant was seized prior to his act of passing the item to Laurie.
2. Legality of the Seizure
{¶ 22} Next, we consider whether Officer Kim‘s seizure of defendant was lawful pursuant to
{¶ 23}
(A) Upon the filing of an affidavit or complaint as provided by section 2935.09 of the Revised Code, if it charges the commission of a felony, such judge, clerk, or magistrate, unless he has reason to believe that it was not filed in good faith, or the claim is not meritorious, shall forthwith issue a warrant for the arrest of the person charged in the affidavit, and directed to a peace officer; otherwise he shall forthwith refer the matter to the prosecuting attorney or other attorney charged by law with prosecution for investigation prior to the issuance of warrant.
(B) If the offense charged is a misdemeanor or violation of a municipal ordinance, such judge, clerk, or magistrate may:
(1) Issue a warrant for the arrest of such person, directed to any officer
named in section 2935.03 of the Revised Code but in cases of ordinance violation only to a police officer or marshal or deputy marshal of the municipal corporation; (2) Issue summons, to be served by a peace officer, bailiff, or court constable, commanding the person against whom the affidavit or complaint was filed to appear forthwith, or at a fixed time in the future, before such court or magistrate. Such summons shall be served in the same manner as in civil cases.
{¶ 24} The state contends that defendant‘s arrest did not violate
(A) As used in this section, “reviewing official” means a judge of a court of record, the prosecuting attorney or attorney charged by law with the prosecution of offenses in a court or before a magistrate, or a magistrate.
(B) In all cases not provided by sections 2935.02 to 2935.08 of the Revised Code, in order to cause the arrest or prosecution of a person charged with committing an offense in this state, a peace officer or a private citizen having knowledge of the facts shall comply with this section.
(C) A peace officer who seeks to cause an arrest or prosecution under this section may file with a reviewing official or the clerk of a court of record an affidavit charging the offense committed.
(D) A private citizen having knowledge of the facts who seeks to cause an arrest or prosecution under this section may file an affidavit charging the offense committed with a reviewing official for the purpose of review to determine if a complaint should be filed by the prosecuting attorney or attorney charged by law with the prosecution of offenses in the court or before the magistrate.
{¶ 25} Following from this, the state argues that both
If an accused person flees from justice, or is not found in the county where a warrant for his arrest was issued, the officer holding the same may pursue and arrest him in any county in this state, and convey him before the magistrate or court of the county having cognizance of the case.
{¶ 26} We agree with the state that
{¶ 27} Before us the parties raised and argued several other statutes. As noted above, the state argues that
{¶ 28} Furthermore, we decline at this time to opine regarding the court‘s finding that the search, seizure, and arrest violated Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution. We are mindful of the Supreme Court of Ohio‘s holding that “Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution affords greater protection than the Fourth Amendment against searches and seizures conducted by members of law enforcement who lack authority to make an arrest” and that following from this, the court has found that a “stop for a minor misdemeanor offense made by a township police officer without statutory authority to do so violates Article I, Section 14 of the Ohio Constitution.” State v. Brown, 143 Ohio St.3d 444, 2015-Ohio-2438, ¶ 23. Compare State v. Jones, 121 Ohio St.3d 103, 2009-Ohio-316 (finding that where the extraterritorial stop is founded on independent probable cause, there is no violation of the Fourth Amendment). Nevertheless, the trial court‘s finding of a constitutional violation is based on its finding that Officer Kim did not have authority, pursuant to
{¶ 29} In conclusion, we hold the trial court erred in finding that the execution of the arrest warrant was unlawful pursuant to
{¶ 30} Accordingly, we sustain the state‘s single assignment of error.
IV. Conclusion
{¶ 31} Having sustained the state‘s single assignment of error, we reverse the judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas and remand this matter for
Judgment reversed and cause remanded.
SADLER and LUPER SCHUSTER, JJ., concur.