State v. Bell

142 Ohio Misc. 2d 72, 2007 WL 1573924
CourtClermont County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedMay 15, 2007
DocketNo. 2006 CR 00867
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 142 Ohio Misc. 2d 72 (State v. Bell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Clermont County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bell, 142 Ohio Misc. 2d 72, 2007 WL 1573924 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2007).

Opinion

Ringland, Judge.

{¶ 1} Defendant, Jaysen Bell, challenges the validity of a search warrant yielding evidence that the State of Ohio plans to introduce against him at trial. Specifically, defendant takes umbrage with the issuance of the search warrant, claiming alternatively that (1) the accompanying affidavit contained false and misleading information requiring its invalidation under Franks v. Delaware (1978), 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667, and (2) the warrant, which permitted a contents search of defendant’s computer hard drive, improperly issued from a Clermont County municipal court judge.

{¶ 2} Defendant initially filed his motion to suppress on December 12, 2006, later filing a supplemental motion with the court on January 10, 2007. At the conclusion of a suppression hearing held April 24, 2007, the court took the matter under advisement. Defendant filed his post-hearing brief supporting his motion on May 2, 2007, with the state’s memorandum opposing suppression following on May 4, 2007. Having considered the arguments, evidence, and briefs submitted by the parties, the court decides defendant’s motion as follows.

[76]*76FACTUAL BACKGROUND

{¶ 3} Defendant stands accused of one count of rape, three counts each of sexual battery and sexual imposition, and one count of gross sexual imposition stemming from alleged improper sexual conduct involving two foster children, T.T. and T.W., between July 2003 and June 2006.1 He challenges the children’s allegations as set forth in an August 9, 2006 affidavit supporting a search warrant obtained from the Clermont County Municipal Court. This warrant authorized the search of defendant’s home and the seizure of certain evidence, including his computer and its contents.

{¶ 4} The state contends that in June of 2006, T.T. informed police that defendant had entered his bedroom on multiple occasions and masturbated him during his foster placement at defendant’s residence. T.T. also stated that defendant once performed fellatio on him in an Amelia church parking lot. T.T. informed police that the only person he had told about the activity was T.W., another foster child who was living with defendant at the time T.T. spoke with police. In August 2006, the state claims that police spoke with T.W., who had been removed from defendant’s care after T.T.’s revelation. T.W. provided a written statement asserting that defendant orally and digitally raped him during his residency at defendant’s home and engaged in other inappropriate sexual behavior towards him. T.W. alleged that defendant remained in telephone and email contact after his removal from defendant’s home and that defendant had attempted to photograph him without clothing.

{¶ 5} Defendant claims the affidavit supporting the warrant recklessly omitted several key facts known to officers at the time of the warrant application. He asserts that the missing facts — once properly included — erode the credibility of the children’s stories so as to destroy the probable cause underlying the warrant. During the suppression hearing, defendant admitted five exhibits into evidence in support of this argument. He first points to a discrepancy between facts contained in the affidavit and the police incident report from the interview conducted with T.T. While the affidavit avers that T.T. disclosed defendant’s actions only to T.W., the police incident report states that he had also discussed the alleged incidents with his brother. Defendant also introduced a social worker report predating the warrant affidavit. In this report, T.T. claimed to have informed his brother, brother-in-law, foster sister, and the police about the alleged abuse. T.T. also stated in this report that while T.W. had told him of alleged abuse at the hands of defendant, he had never shared his own experiences with T.W.

[77]*77{¶ 6} Defendant also highlights differences between the affidavit and the contents of T.W.’s written statement and police interview. During his statement and interview, T.W. claimed that he was unaware of any abuse suffered by T.T. Finally, defendant points to a Butler County Children Services incident report form detailing earlier allegations by T.T. of sexual abuse by his brother. Defendant claims not only that these allegations were later proven false, but also that T.T. allegedly confided in the same brother regarding abuse by defendant.

{¶ 7} Defendant believes these discrepancies are material to the veracity of the alleged victims and therefore should have been included within the warrant application. He submits that the police recklessly omitted facts regarding these several versions of the victim’s stories and T.T.’s prior false allegations of sexual abuse because they raised significant doubts as to their credibility. In response, the state asserts that defendant failed to show that the officer obtaining the warrant omitted these facts with the intention of misleading the issuing judge. The state also claims that the facts omitted were immaterial to the alleged abuse because they did not contradict the essential facts of the children’s allegations against defendant.

{¶ 8} Additionally, because defendant allegedly continued to contact T.W. by computer after his removal from defendant’s residence, the warrant called for the search and seizure of such items as defendant’s computer and its contents, including computer-related storage media. Defendant asserts that because the warrant authorized the interception of stored electronic data, the state was required to obtain the signature of a common pleas judge. While the parties agree that the warrant issued from a municipal court judge, the state disputes the applicability of R.C. 2933.51 et seq., which deals with “interception warrants,” to the computer-based evidence seized by police.

LEGAL STANDARD

{¶ 9} An affidavit supporting a warrant enjoys a presumption of validity. State v. Jones (2000), 90 Ohio St.3d 403, 739 N.E.2d 300, citing State v. Roberts (1980), 62 Ohio St.2d 170, 178, 16 O.O.3d 201, 405 N.E.2d 247. Accordingly, the burden of initially establishing whether a search was authorized by a warrant is on the party challenging the legality of the search. Xenia v. Wallace (1988), 37 Ohio St.3d 216, 218, 524 N.E.2d 889. The issuing judge’s probable-cause determination is entitled to great deference: doubtful or marginal cases should be resolved in favor of the warrant. Illinois v. Gates (1983), 462 U.S. 213, 237, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527, fn. 10. State v. George (1989), 45 Ohio St.3d 325, 544 N.E.2d 640, at paragraph two of the syllabus.

[78]*78{¶ 10} “To successfully attack the veracity of a facially sufficient search-warrant affidavit, a defendant must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the affiant made a false statement, either ‘intentionally, or with reckless disregard for the truth.’ ” State v. McKnight, 107 Ohio St.3d 101, 2005-Ohio-6046, 837 N.E.2d 315, at ¶ 31, quoting Franks v. Delaware (1978), 438 U.S. 154, 155-156, 98 S.Ct.

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Related

State v. Poling
2010 Ohio 5429 (Hocking County Municipal Court, 2010)
State v. Bell
2008 Ohio 592 (Clermont County Court of Common Pleas, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
142 Ohio Misc. 2d 72, 2007 WL 1573924, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bell-ohctcomplclermo-2007.