State v. Horton

2025 Ohio 5103
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 10, 2025
Docket1-24-62
StatusPublished

This text of 2025 Ohio 5103 (State v. Horton) 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. Horton, 2025 Ohio 5103 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Horton, 2025-Ohio-5103.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT ALLEN COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 1-24-62 PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,

v.

LLOYD B. HORTON, JR., OPINION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Appeal from Allen County Common Pleas Court

Trial Court No. CR2023 0289

Judgment Affirmed

Date of Decision: November 10, 2025

APPEARANCES:

Peter Galyardt and Melissa Seabolt for Appellant

John R. Willamowski, Jr. for Appellee Case No. 1-24-62

MILLER, J.

{¶1} Defendant-Appellant, Lloyd B. Horton, Jr. (“Horton”), appeals from the

September 9, 2024 judgment of the Allen County Court of Common Pleas,

sentencing him after a jury trial. Horton argues on appeal that the trial court erred

in denying his request to suppress the illegal drugs found in his home, his trial

counsel was constitutionally deficient in failing to timely move for suppression on

Miranda grounds, and the jury lost its way in convicting him because its verdict was

against the manifest weight of the evidence. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

{¶2} On September 14, 2023, Horton was indicted on a single count for

possession of cocaine, in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A), as a first-degree felony. The

charge arose from law enforcement’s recovery of cocaine from Horton’s father’s

house, where Horton was living in the basement. According to the State, Horton

consented to a search and showed law enforcement where the cocaine was located.

{¶3} On March 10, 2024, the trial court held a hearing on Horton’s motion

to suppress evidence. Horton argued his consent to the search was not voluntary.

Special Agent Andrew Eilerman of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (“Special

Agent Eilerman”) testified at the hearing. In the summer of 2022, he was a member

of a task force investigating Christopher Clary (“Clary”). The task force had reason

to believe Clary was trafficking in narcotics and, pursuant to a warrant, they placed

a GPS tracker on Clary’s vehicle. On August 18, 2022, Clary’s vehicle drove to the

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Detroit area and back. Upon returning, two people exited the vehicle at Clary’s

house, Clary and Horton. Horton later left Clary’s house, and law enforcement

executed a search warrant there and spoke with Clary. Clary informed law

enforcement that he had purchased a pound of cocaine during the trip. However,

after searching Clary’s house and further investigation, they recovered an ounce less

than the full pound.

{¶4} Law enforcement then decided to talk to Horton. Six officers from the

task force arrived at the house where Horton lived with his father. They did not

have a warrant to search the house and had not attempted to obtain one. According

to Special Agent Eilerman, on approaching the house, the officers did not have guns

drawn and were not even wearing their bullet proof vests. They did not anticipate

forcing entry into the home; instead they intended to engage in a “knock and talk.”

The officers set themselves up around the outside of the house.

{¶5} Special Agent Eilerman knocked on the door and announced that they

were law enforcement. Horton’s father came to the door. Special Agent Eilerman

explained to him who they were, why they were there, and that they wanted to speak

to Horton. Law enforcement then spoke with Horton, explained they had recovered

some narcotics from Clary’s house, some of the drugs were missing, and they asked

Horton how much he had. Horton admitted he had an ounce of cocaine. Law

enforcement then asked Horton for consent to recover the drugs but explained

Horton did not have to give consent. Special Agent Eilerman also explained they

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now had enough information to obtain a search warrant. Horton gave them consent

to conduct a search, led them to the basement, and recovered the cocaine from

behind a ceiling tile.

{¶6} Special Agent Eilerman also testified he did not threaten Horton, did

not tell Horton his home would be torn apart if he did not provide consent to search,

and did not indicate to Horton that he had a valid search warrant for the home.

However, he did tell Horton that law enforcement had executed a search warrant at

Clary’s house. According to Special Agent Eilerman, law enforcement did not have

any guns drawn, Horton was not under arrest, and Horton was not placed in

handcuffs.

{¶7} On cross-examination, Special Agent Eilerman said there would have

been further discussions about Horton “working with the Task Force,” but at the

time they had their initial discussion with Horton—during which Horton told them

the amount of drugs he had at the house—they had enough information to obtain a

search warrant. Special Agent Eilerman added that he is not allowed to decide

whether a person will get charged in exchange for cooperation. He also admitted

he may have told Horton that “sometimes houses get messy” during a search. (May

10, 2024 Tr. at 29).

{¶8} Horton and his father also testified during the hearing. Some of their

testimony conflicted with Special Agent Eilerman’s testimony. According to

Horton, on the evening in question, he heard shouting outside the house, demanding

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he come outside. He saw one officer with his gun drawn. Horton testified that, once

officers implied they already knew drugs were inside the house, they asked him

what he had. Horton responded that he found some cocaine and was using it.

Officers told him, “Well, you need to go in there and get it because we already have

a warrant. If you don’t comply we’ll just go in there and tear your father’s house

apart.” In turn, Horton said, “I don’t want my dad’s house torn apart. You guys

claim to already know what’s in there. If you’re not going to arrest me or anything

as you’ve claimed then I’ll cooperate.” Horton’s father similarly testified that he

overheard the officers say, “If you’ve got [the drugs] we would like for you to give

it up. You don’t want us to go in and tear your dad’s house apart. We’ll search

everything.” Horton then entered the home with the officers, went to the basement,

located the cocaine, and gave it to the officers.

{¶9} According to Horton, the officers also said they were not going to arrest

him or charge him with anything. Similarly, Horton’s father testified that officers

told Horton he was not under arrest and was not going to be charged. All of the

witnesses agreed that Horton was not arrested that night, August 18, 2022. As set

forth above, Horton was not indicted until more than a year later, on September 14,

2023.

{¶10} The trial court issued a written order denying Horton’s motion to

suppress. Among other things, the trial court found Special Agent Eilerman’s

testimony more credible than the defense witnesses on certain subjects. It concluded

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that, upon considering all the testimony, Horton voluntarily consented to the search

of his basement residence.

{¶11} Two weeks later, Horton’s counsel filed a motion for leave to file

another motion to suppress, based on the argument that (1) defense counsel learned

new information during the motion to suppress hearing, and (2) that new

information supported that Horton was in custody at the time he made statements to

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2025 Ohio 5103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-horton-ohioctapp-2025.