State v. Curtis

951 N.E.2d 131, 193 Ohio App. 3d 121
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 18, 2011
DocketNo. 23895
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 951 N.E.2d 131 (State v. Curtis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Curtis, 951 N.E.2d 131, 193 Ohio App. 3d 121 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Donovan, Judge.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Tony N. Curtis appeals from his conviction and sentence for one count of aggravated possession of drugs (in the bulk amount but less than five times the bulk amount), in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A), a felony of the third degree.

I

{¶ 2} The incident that forms the basis for this appeal occurred on February 24, 2008, at approximately 5:20 p.m., when Officers Myers and Yoder of the Centerville Police Department were dispatched to 2 Chase Drive at the Chevy Chase Apartments located in Centerville. The officers were dispatched to investigate an anonymous tip that a person named Tony Curtis was trespassing on the grounds of the apartment complex. According to the tipster, Curtis had been previously banned from the property on an earlier date, but the officers made no attempt to confirm the tipster’s information before arriving at the scene.

{¶ 8} Upon arriving at the apartment complex, Officer Myers testified, he observed Officer Yoder talking with two men in front of 2 Chase Drive, who were standing near a green 1995 Ford Thunderbird. The two men were identified as the appellant, Curtis, and Steven Creech. Curtis testified that he was visiting Creech, who lived at that address in the complex. Curtis also testified that Officer Yoder parked his cruiser in a position blocking in his vehicle.

{¶4} Curtis testified that Officer Yoder informed him that he and Officer Myers were investigating a complaint that someone named Tony Curtis was trespassing at the apartment complex. Officer Yoder asked for Curtis’s identification and was able to verify his identity. After they contacted dispatch, the officers determined that Curtis was not, in fact, banned from the apartment complex. Officer Myers specifically testified that he was able to determine that Curtis was not engaged in any criminal activity from the “actual moment that [he and Officer Yoder] made contact with him.” Officer Myers also testified that he thought that Curtis was coherent and did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs or alcohol.

[125]*125{¶ 5} Curtis testified that after it was determined that he was not banned from the property, Officer Yoder kept asking him questions and remained in possession of his driver’s license. Officer Yoder asked Curtis why he was at the complex, and Curtis explained that he was there to visit his friend, Creech. In light of the location of Officer Yoder’s cruiser, which blocked in his vehicle, as well as the officer’s failure to return his driver’s license, Curtis testified that he felt that he was not free to leave.

{¶ 6} While Officer Yoder was talking to Curtis, Officer Myers walked over to the passenger side of Curtis’s vehicle and looked inside. Officer Myers testified that from his vantage point, he could see three orange pill bottles with white caps in the driver’s door pocket. Officer Myers further testified that the pill bottles had no labels and seemed to contain a white residue.

{¶ 7} Officer Myers asked Curtis about the pill bottles and whether he was taking any prescribed medications, and Curtis stated that he was not and that the pill bottles had been in his car for a long time. Officer Myers testified that he then asked Curtis if there were any prescription medications in his vehicle, and Curtis replied that there might be some Xanax pills in his car. Officer Myers asked Curtis if he a valid prescription for the Xanax pills. Curtis testified that he responded that he did at one time but that his prescription was not current. Officer Myers testified that Curtis stated that he had received the pills from a friend.

{¶ 8} At that point, Officer Myers testified that he placed Curtis in the back of his cruiser and conducted a probable-cause search of the vehicle. Officer Myers testified that he searched the pill bottles that he had seen in the driver’s door, and all of the bottles contained an unidentified white residue. Next to the bottles, Officer Myers discovered more pills, which were later identified as methadone, a Schedule II narcotic. Officer Myers then read Curtis his Miranda rights and placed him under arrest. After securing Curtis in the back of the cruiser, Officers Myers and Yoder conducted a second search of his vehicle, wherein they located a large quantity of prescription medication and other controlled substances.

{¶ 9} On May 14, 2008, Curtis was indicted on one count of aggravated possession of drugs (in the bulk amount but less than five times the bulk amount), three counts of aggravated possession of drugs (Schedule I or II), and one count of possession of heroin. At his arraignment on May 29, 2008, Curtis pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him.

{¶ 10} Curtis filed a motion to suppress any physical evidence recovered from his vehicle, as well as any statements made by him to the police prior to his arrest. A hearing was held on July 26, 2008, after which the trial court ordered the parties to submit posthearing briefs in support of their positions. After [126]*126considering the parties’ arguments, the trial court overruled Curtis’s motion to suppress in a written decision filed on October 7, 2008.

{¶ 11} In return for dismissal of all remaining counts in the indictment, Curtis ultimately pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated possession of drugs (in the bulk amount but less than five times the bulk amount). The court found Curtis guilty and sentenced him to five years of community control and suspended his driver’s license for six months.

{¶ 12} It is from this judgment that Curtis now appeals.

II

{¶ 13} Curtis’ first assignment of error is as follows:

{¶ 14} “The trial court erred by overruling appellant’s motion to suppress because the police officer did not have a reasonable and articulable suspicion that appellant was engaged in criminal activity.”

{¶ 15} In his first assignment, Curtis contends that the trial court erred when it overruled his motion to suppress because Officers Yoder and Myers did not have a reasonable, articulable suspicion to detain and question him once it became apparent that he was not trespassing at the apartment complex. Specifically, Curtis argues that the initial encounter between himself and the police officers was not consensual because Officer Yoder blocked in his vehicle and refused to return his driver’s license while questioning him. Curtis asserts that a reasonable person in the same situation would not have felt free to leave. Accordingly, once it was ascertained that Curtis was not trespassing, the officers’ continued detention of Curtis became illegal, and any evidence derived from the unlawful detention should have been suppressed.

{¶ 16} In regard to a motion to suppress, “ ‘the trial court assumes the role of trier of facts and is in the best position to resolve questions of fact and evaluate the credibility of witnesses.’ ” State v. Hopfer (1996), 112 Ohio App.3d 521, 548, 679 N.E.2d 321, quoting State v. Venhavi (1994), 96 Ohio App.3d 649, 653, 645 N.E.2d 831. The court of appeals must accept the trial court’s findings of fact if they are supported by competent, credible evidence in the record. State v. Isaac, Montgomery App. No. 20662, 2005-Ohio-3733, 2005 WL 1707019, citing State v. Retherford

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
951 N.E.2d 131, 193 Ohio App. 3d 121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-curtis-ohioctapp-2011.