State v. Gatewood, Unpublished Decision (12-22-2000)

Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided December 22, 2000·No. Trial No. B-9901287; Appeal No. C-000157.·Unpublished

Opinion

DECISION.
A Hamilton County grand jury indicted appellant Damon Gatewood on the following five counts: preparation of marijuana for sale in the vicinity of a school or juvenile; failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer while operating a motor vehicle; vandalism; felonious assault; and inducing panic. Gatewood entered a no- contest plea to the drug charge. A jury found Gatewood guilty of failing to comply with an order or signal of a police officer while operating a vehicle, criminal damaging, which was a lesser-included offense of vandalism, and negligent assault, which was a lesser-included offense of felonious assault.

In his appeal, Gatewood raises six assignments of error, claiming that the trial court erred in (1) denying his motion to suppress; (2) overruling his challenge to what he characterizes as the state's racially motivated peremptory strike of an African-American juror; (3) imposing consecutive sentences; (4) convicting him despite insufficient evidence (also the gist of his sixth assignment); and (5) convicting him against the manifest weight of the evidence.

I. The Chase and Arrest

Gatewood's troubles began when a female informant went to a Cincinnati police station to report drug trafficking from a residence on McPherson Street. She met with Cincinnati Police Officer Dwayne Wilson and told him that a black man known as Damon was selling drugs from the residence. The informant described how the transactions occurred, provided a description of Damon and one of his cars, and told Wilson that Damon had a white girlfriend with blonde hair. As a result of the informant's report, Wilson watched the house on three occasions. The first time Wilson saw a man fitting the description of Damon engage in conduct that the informant had predicted. The third time Wilson watched the house, he saw the suspect, later identified as Gatewood, leave the house with a blonde-haired white woman. The woman entered a white automobile and Gatewood entered a gold Audi. The woman followed Gatewood's Audi, and Wilson followed the woman's car. Because Wilson was not in uniform, he called for an uniformed officer to stop Gatewood's Audi because of suspected drug dealing. Sergeant Michael Fern responded to the call.

Fern's cruiser faced Gatewood's car while Gatewood waited at a traffic light on the corner of Grand and Warsaw. Fern turned on the cruiser's overhead lights. As Gatewood pulled out, Fern executed a U-turn and maneuvered between Gatewood's Audi and the woman's white car. Fern activated his siren. Gatewood accelerated and turned to the right on Ring Place, a dead-end street. Wilson followed Gatewood and Fern to Ring Place. Seeing that Ring Place was a dead-end street, Fern called for assistance in case a foot pursuit ensued.

Fern and Wilson attempted to block Gatewood's car in the cul-de-sac. Fern left his cruiser, with his weapon drawn, yelled at Gatewood that he was under arrest, and ordered him to get out of his car. Gatewood responded by closing his windows and sunroof. He did not get out. Fern broke a window with the muzzle of his gun and attempted to unlock the door in order to drag Gatewood from the Audi.

Meanwhile, Wilson had also left his car with his gun drawn. Gatewood moved his car forward and hit Wilson's car. He then put his car in reverse, knocked Fern to the ground, and backed into the open door of Fern's cruiser. At this point, Wilson fired five shots at the Audi because he feared that Gatewood was going to drive over Fern. While on the ground, Fern heard the gunshots being fired. Struggling to stand, Fern saw the backup lights of Gatewood's car coming toward him and fired a shot that missed the car. Gatewood was then able to maneuver his car out of the cul-de- sac and sped away. Fern suffered a contusion to his left shoulder and received physical therapy for a month following the incident.

Police Officer Michael Brown saw Gatewood's car coming toward the cruiser in which he and his partner were sitting. His partner got out of the cruiser, and both officers drew their guns. Gatewood's car backed up and sped away, with Brown's cruiser in pursuit. Brown observed Gatewood's car speeding and running stop signs during the chase. Brown also observed Gatewood throw an object from his car into a dumpster. He broadcast that action and continued his pursuit. Brown also observed Gatewood throw, at a later point, what appeared to be a baggie. Eventually, Gatewood's tire blew and he was apprehended. The police found the baggie, which contained marijuana. Nothing was found in the dumpster.

Cincinnati Police Specialist Terry Cox talked to Gatewood at the district office where other officers had brought him. Cox read Gatewood his Miranda rights, and Gatewood agreed to talk to Cox. Although Gatewood did not want his statement taped, Cox surreptitiously taped the conversation with a small recorder he had placed in his pocket. According to Cox, Gatewood stated that he did not know why he had been pursued, that he had tried to get away from the officers, and that he did not have a driver's license.

II. A Citizen Informant's Tip Proves Reliable

In his first assignment, Gatewood challenges the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress, claiming that the police officers' reliance on a tip from a confidential informant failed to provide the requisite reasonable, articulable suspicion to stop him. A challenge to a stop requires a police officer to have only a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the person is involved in criminal activity.1 The "reasonableness of official suspicion must be measured by what the officer knew before" the officer made the initial stop.2 The determination of whether a particular stop was based on reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity requires the state to produce evidence from which a court may independently review whether "the suspicion of criminal activity on which the officers acted was one that a reasonable and prudent officer would have formed."3 And "even completely legal conduct might, under some circumstances, justify a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is taking place."4

Where "the information possessed by the police before the stop stems solely from an informant's tip, the determination of reasonable suspicion will be limited to an examination of the weight and reliability due the tip."5 The analysis in this respect is "whether the tip itself has sufficient indicia of reliability to justify the investigative stop."6 In Maumee v. Weisner, the Ohio Supreme Court identified three types of informants: (1) the anonymous informant whose information requires independent police corroboration because an anonymous informant is "comparatively unreliable"7; (2) the known informant from whom the police have previously received reliable tips; and (3) the identified citizen informant, whose tip is generally afforded more reliability under certain circumstances.

Gatewood characterizes the informant in this case as a known informant. Apparently, this is because the informant had some minor criminal convictions. But we are convinced that the informant was an identified citizen informant. Wilson testified that the informant came to the police station and informed him that drugs were being sold from a house on McPherson Street.

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State v. Gatewood, Unpublished Decision (12-22-2000), (Ohio Ct. App. 2000).

State v. Gatewood, Unpublished Decision (12-22-2000) (State v. Gatewood, Unpublished Decision (12-22-2000)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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