State v. Carter

1994 Ohio 343
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedApril 19, 1994
Docket1993-0451
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 1994 Ohio 343 (State v. Carter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Carter, 1994 Ohio 343 (Ohio 1994).

Opinion

OPINIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO The full texts of the opinions of the Supreme Court of Ohio are being transmitted electronically beginning May 27, 1992, pursuant to a pilot project implemented by Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer. Please call any errors to the attention of the Reporter's Office of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Attention: Walter S. Kobalka, Reporter, or Deborah J. Barrett, Administrative Assistant. Tel.: (614) 466-4961; in Ohio 1-800-826-9010. Your comments on this pilot project are also welcome. NOTE: Corrections may be made by the Supreme Court to the full texts of the opinions after they have been released electronically to the public. The reader is therefore advised to check the bound volumes of Ohio St.3d published by West Publishing Company for the final versions of these opinions. The advance sheets to Ohio St.3d will also contain the volume and page numbers where the opinions will be found in the bound volumes of the Ohio Official Reports.

The State of Ohio, Appellant, v. Carter et al., Appellees. [Cite as State v. Carter (1994), Ohio St.3d .] Constitutional law -- Search and seizure -- Evidence gained from the serach of an automobile and a residence suppressed, when. (No. 93-451 -- Submitted February 22, 1994 -- Decided April 20, 1994.) Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Montgomery County, No. 13628.

Mathias H. Heck, Jr., Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney, and Carley J. Ingram, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellant. John H. Rion & Associates and John H. Rion, for appellee Larry T. Carter, Jr. Gump & Associates and Dennis E. Gump, for appellee Christopher R. Ross. Michael Miller, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, and Joyce S. Anderson, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, urging reversal for amicus curiae, Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association. Gold, Rotatori, Schwartz & Gibbons Co., L.P.A., and John S. Pyle, urging affirmance for amicus curiae, Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Per Curiam. The cause is before this court pursuant to the allowance of a motion for leave to appeal. We adopt the February 4, 1993 decision of the court of appeals, which decision is attached as an appendix to this entry, and affirm the decision of the court of appeals for the reasons stated therein. Judgment affirmed. Moyer, C.J., A.W. Sweeney, Douglas, Wright, Resnick, F.E. Sweeney and Pfeifer, JJ., concur.

APPENDIX

Brogan, Judge. The state of Ohio appeals, pursuant to R.C. 2945.67(A) and Crim.R. 12(J), from a pretrial order of the Common Pleas Court of Montgomery County, Ohio, which suppressed evidence gained from the search of an automobile and a residence. On March 3, 1992, appellees, Larry T. Carter and Chris R. Ross, were indicted by the Montgomery County Grand Jury upon two counts of aggravated trafficking in cocaine in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(9). Pursuant to Crim.R. 12(J), the state has certified that the suppression order has rendered the state's proof so weak that any reasonable possibility of effective prosecution has been destroyed. At the inception of the pretrial hearing the state stipulated that the defendants had legal standing to object to the search of the residence located at 2010 West Grand Avenue in Dayton, Ohio. Ray McDonald testified that he loaned his 1987 Ford Bronco to Larry Carter on February 17, 1992 so Carter could move, and he assumed Ross was helping carter move, so he was permitted as a passenger in McDonald's vehicle. McDonald said he placed no restrictions on how Carter used his Bronco. He said he did not give Carter or Ross his Bronco "to haul cocaine in it." Major Ronald Lowe testified he managed all uniform personnel for the Dayton Police Department and had eighteen years of experience as a police officer. On February 19, 1992, at 10:15 a.m., Lowe testified he was in a unmarked cruiser travelling southbound on Philadelphia Drive approaching West Riverview when he noticed McDonald's white Bronco truck. Lowe said he vaguely remembered that he had heard a police broadcast about one or two weeks previously concerning a Bronco being involved in a drive-by shooting on the west side of Dayton. He said he remembered that the shooting allegedly took place twenty to twenty-five blocks from his present location. He said he called the police dispatcher to obtain more details while he followed the Bronco to obtain its license number. He said he also asked the dispatcher if there were other police crews in the area because he wanted to stop the Bronco, but the dispatcher did not reply. He said shortly thereafter he lost sight of the Bronco. A short time later Lowe said he spotted the Bronco parked behind a garage in an alley behind Grand Avenue. Lowe said he did not initially see anyone in the Bronco and he took up a surveillance position and told the dispatcher of his approximate location. Lowe said he then observed Larry Carter seated in the driver's seat and he noticed Chris Ross standing by the corner of a garage carrying some type of bundle in his arms. Lowe said Ross switched the bundle from his left arm to his right arm. Lowe said the bundle seemed heavy and was wrapped in something gray. Lowe said he watched Ross get in the passenger seat of the Bronco and Carter then drove the Bronco down the alley and onto Everett. Lowe then advised the dispatcher that he had relocated the Bronco and needed backup assistance. He said he followed the Bronco and when he observed a uniformed cruiser he ordered that crew to make a "felony stop" on the car. Lowe said a felony stop occurs when a vehicle is stopped and the subjects are ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint. Lowe said he ordered the felony stop of the Bronco because he did not know what was in the bundle that the passenger carried into the Bronco and he could not tell if it was a weapon. Lowe said that Officers Christine Bean and Raymond Martin ordered Carter and Ross out of the Bronco at gunpoint. Lowe said he approached the Bronco and looked in the open passenger door for possible weapons. He said he noticed a bundle lying on the front floorboard and it appeared to be the bundle he saw Ross carrying into the Bronco. Lowe said he unwrapped the gray bundle and found a small package wrapped in brown opague paper. Lowe said he thought the package might contain narcotics and so he secured the van and called for the evidence and narcotics units. Carter and Ross were then placed in separate police cruisers. Lowe said the package was field tested and determined to be two pounds of cocain and he then ordered the police to secure the residence at 2010 West Grand Avenue until a search warrant could be obtained. The gray material Ross was carrying was determined to be gray pants or jeans. Lowe admitted upon cross-examination that he did not observe Carter or Ross violate any law. Lowe made the following explanation: "[THE WITNESS:] At that particular time, I didn't feel as a major and as a police officer that I needed to see him violate any statute in that he was in a high drug area. "[MR. RION, attorney for defendants:] Objection, Your Honor. Move it be stricken. "[MR. HECK, prosecuting attorney:] Let him finish, Judge. I wish you would instruct counsel to let him finish his answers. "[MR. RION:] Your Honor, he is loading the record and -- "[MR. HECK:] He doesn't like what he was going to hear. Let's let justice come out. "[THE COURT:] Continue your answer. "[THE WITNESS:] The Bronco was in a high drug activity area. It was backed or pulled up against a garage in this high crime area. I felt, and I feel all our officers should feel, anything that suspicious, the vehicle will be stopped." On cross-examination, Lowe admitted he had no information prior to February 19 concerning drug activity at 2010 West Grand Avenue. He admitted he had not seen Ross enter or leave any residence.

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1994 Ohio 343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-carter-ohio-1994.