State v. Allen

2025 Ohio 1902
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided May 27, 2025·No. 2024-T-0096·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT TRUMBULL COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 2024-T-0096

Plaintiff-Appellee,

Criminal Appeal from the

- vs - Court of Common Pleas

DERRICK D. ALLEN, Trial Court No. 2023 CR 00695 Defendant-Appellant.

OPINION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY

Decided: May 27, 2025

Judgment: Affirmed

Dennis Watkins, Trumbull County Prosecutor, and Charles L. Morrow, Assistant Prosecutor, Administration Building, Fourth Floor, 160 High Street, N.W., Warren, OH 44481 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).

Eric J. Cherry, N.P. Weiss Law, 4070 Mayfield Road, South Euclid, OH 44121 (For Defendant-Appellant).

SCOTT LYNCH, J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Derrick D. Allen, appeals the denial of his suppression motion and the imposition of fines as part of his sentence for multiple drug-related charges. For the following reasons, we affirm the denial of his motion and the imposition of the fines.

{¶2} On November 1, 2023, the Trumbull County Grand Jury indicted Allen on the following charges: Possession of Heroin (Count 1), a felony of the first degree in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A) and (C)(6)(e), with a specification of forfeiture pursuant to R.C. 2941.1417(A); Aggravated Possession of Drugs (Count 2), a felony of the second degree in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A) and (C)(1)(c); Possession of Cocaine (Count 3), a felony of the first degree in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A) and (C)(4)(e); Possession of Cocaine (Count 4), a felony of the fifth degree in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A) and (C)(4)(a); Possession of a Fentanyl-related Compound (Count 5), a felony of the first degree in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A) and (C)(11)(e); Tampering with Evidence (Count 6), a felony of the third degree in violation of R.C. 2921.12(A)(1) and (B); and Illegal Conveyance of Prohibited Items onto the Grounds of a Specified Government Facility (Count 7), a felony of the third degree in violation of R.C. 2921.36(A)(2) and (G)(2).

{¶3} On December 12, 2023, Allen filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence. A hearing on the Motion was held on February 1, 2024, at which Officer Phillip Sajnovsky of the Warren City Police Department testified.

{¶4} On March 19, 2024, the trial court issued its Judgment Entry denying the Motion. The court made the following relevant findings of fact and conclusions of law:

On August 20, 2023, at approximately 3:00am, Warren City Police Officer Phil Sajnovsky was responding to a call regarding a large gathering at the Elm Road Convenient Store. Based on his experience, Officer Sajnovsky knows this location as a high-crime area. As he was approaching the store, near the intersection of Elm Road and Larchmont, Officer Sajnovsky observed a vehicle leaving the Elm Road Convenient Store with no headlights on and dark window tint. Officer Sajnovsky proceeded to follow the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. Officer Sajnovsky’s sergeant, Sergeant Sumption, was also in the vicinity and joined the stop.

Officer Sajnovsky approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and identified the driver as Mr. Lloyd Fraction IV and the front seat passenger as the Defendant. Sergeant Sumption approached and was standing at the passenger’s side of the vehicle. Officer Sajnovsky observed the driver appearing to be nervous as he was sweating and his chest was palpitating. Officer Sajnovsky also observed the driver moving his hands around and reaching down toward the floorboard. Based on his training and experience, Officer Sajnovsky believed this was abnormal behavior. He asked the driver

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if he could search the vehicle for weapons or drugs. The driver refused to give consent to the search, which led to Officer Sajnovsky calling for a K9 unit.

Officer Sajnovsky testified that when a K9 unit arrives to a stop, all occupants of the vehicle are asked to exit the vehicle for the dog’s safety. Officer Sajnovsky asked the driver to step out of the vehicle and while he was initially uncooperative, he did eventually exit the vehicle. Upon exiting the vehicle, to ensure the officers’

safety, Officer Sajnovsky conducted a pat down of the driver to search for weapons and nothing was found.

Officer Sajnovsky then joined Sergeant Sumption at the passenger side of the vehicle. Officer Sajnovsky observed Defendant grabbing or reaching toward the floorboard and moving his hands around his feet. Officer Sajnovsky also observed Defendant reacting and moving slowly when spoken to and breathing heavily. Based on his training and experience, Officer Sajnovsky believed that this behavior was abnormal.

During the pat down, Officer Sajnovsky felt a crushed rocklike substance in one of Defendant’s pockets and, based on his training and experience, knew it to be crack cocaine. He then removed it from Defendant’s pocket. Officer Sajnovsky continued the pat down and felt a large lump under Defendant’s buttock. Officer Sajnovsky asked Defendant what it was and whether he would remove it. Defendant responded that it was nothing and refused to remove it. Based on his training and experience, Officer Sajnovsky knew that individuals hide drugs near their rectum area and believed this to be the case with Defendant. Officer Sajnovsky did not remove the item but charged Defendant with obstructing official business and transported him to the Trumbull County jail. During a search of Defendant at the jail, a large Crown Royal bag containing crack, meth, and heroin was found in his rectum area.

The Court finds that the initial traffic stop was constitutionally valid as Officer Sajnovsky observed the vehicle driving with no headlights on and dark window tint that he perceived, based on his training and experience, was beyond what was legally permissible.

Officer Sajnovsky was further permitted to order the driver and Defendant to exit the vehicle. State v. Tamas, 2023-Ohio-1710, ¶ 20 (11th Dist.).

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The Court finds that Officer Sajnovsky was justified in conducting a pat down of Defendant to ensure his and Sergeant Sumption’s safety. Officer Sajnovsky observed Defendant grabbing or reaching toward the floorboard, moving his hands around his feet, reacting and moving slowly, and breathing heavily. Officer Sajnovsky also observed the driver appearing to be nervous as he was sweating and his chest was palpitating and observed him moving his hands around and reaching down toward the floorboard.

Both nervousness and a defendant’s movements, such as furtive gestures, can be factors in determining whether a police officer had reasonable suspicion. State v. Alexander-Lindsey, [65] N.E.3d 129, 138, 2016-Ohio-3033, ¶ 23-24 (4th Dist.). Officer Sajnovsky identified this as abnormal behavior by both Defendant and the driver.

Further, the vehicle was seen leaving a location that Officer Sajnovsky knew to be a high crime area at 3:00am. Therefore, in reviewing the totality of the circumstances, the Court finds that Officer Sajnovsky had a reasonable suspicion that Defendant could be armed and dangerous and was justified in conducting a pat down to ensure both officers’ safety.

While a protective pat down under Terry is limited to discovering weapons, the “plain feel” doctrine will apply if during the pat down “an officer detects an object whose criminal character is immediately apparent to him.” State v. Brown, 2019-Ohio-1112, ¶ 23 (4th Dist.). In such an instance, the officer would be justified in seizing the object. Id. Here, Officer Sajnovsky first plainly felt a crushed, rocklike substance in Defendant’s pocket and, based on his training and experience, he knew it to be crack cocaine and removed it from Defendant’s pocket. As Officer Sajnovsky continued his pat down, he felt a lump under Defendant’s buttock. Based on his training and experience, Officer Sajnovsky believed this item to also be contraband as individuals will hide drugs in the rectum area.

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State v. Allen, 2025 Ohio 1902 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025).

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