State v. Morris

329 N.E.2d 85, 42 Ohio St. 2d 307, 71 Ohio Op. 2d 294, 1975 Ohio LEXIS 495
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMay 21, 1975
DocketNos. 74-81 and 74-94
StatusPublished
Cited by56 cases

This text of 329 N.E.2d 85 (State v. Morris) 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. Morris, 329 N.E.2d 85, 42 Ohio St. 2d 307, 71 Ohio Op. 2d 294, 1975 Ohio LEXIS 495 (Ohio 1975).

Opinions

Corrigan, J.

In ease Nos. 74-81 and 74-94, appellants Morris and MeSpadden, respectively, cite as error the admission in evidence at trial of certain narcotics which, they allege, were obtained in violation of the restrictions of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures.

In case No. 74-81, appellant Morris also maintains that the verdicts returned by the jury in the trial of the codefendants on the first count of the indictment are inconsistent and repugnant and must be set aside. Appellant Morris also contends that the procedure whereby the grand jury returns secret indictments constitutes a denial of due process and equal protection of the law; and that Ohio law compels, at the least, a preliminary examination be held or that the accused be provided a copy of the grand jury minutes.

In case No. 74-94, appellant MeSpadden maintains that the trial court committed reversible error in denying the defense the opportunity to present new evidence directly related to the veracity of the testimony of the state’s toxicology expert witness, in violation of appellant’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation; that the discovery of other new evidence subsequent to the appellate court’s decision is directly related to due-process and fair-trial standards of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution and mandates reversal of appellant’s conviction on the first count of the indictment.

For purposes of this opinion, the appeals in case Nos. 74-81 and 74-94 will be treated jointly on the issues touching the legality of the search and seizure conducted at the Toledo Penn Central Railroad Terminal. The other propositions urged by appellants will be discussed separately as they relate to each case.

[311]*311I.

Preliminary to a discussion of the legality of the search, is the question of appellants’ standing to challenge the search, first raised by the prosecution on appeal.

It is well established that: “It is a general rule that an appellate court will not consider any error which counsel for a party complaining of the trial court’s judgment could have called but did not call to the trial court’s attention at a time when such error could have been avoided or corrected by the trial court. * * *” (Paragraph three of the syllabus in State v. Childs [1968], 14 Ohio St. 2d 56.)

It is not necessary for this court to consider whether the “automatic standing” provisions of Jones v. United States (1960), 362 U. S. 257, have been overruled by Simmons v. United States (1968), 390 U. S. 377.

Clearly, the defendants were entitled, under Simmons, to testify in support of their motion to suppress and the testimony could not thereafter be admitted against them in the trial. In the present case, however, no record was made on the “standing” issue upon which this court could base its review.

Moreover, not only did the prosecution compound the error in failing to object to the appellants’ standing to contest the introduction of the evidence obtained in the search, but also in proceeding under the assumption that appellants did, in fact, have standing and in choosing instead to defend the reasonableness of the search.

Had appellants failed to object to the introduction of the evidence obtained in the search prior to trial, their right to object would have been waived. State v. Davis (1964), 1 Ohio St. 2d 28. Where, as here, the state fails to challenge appellants’ standing to object and thereby preserve its record for appeal and instead elects to defend the reasonableness of the search and seizure, it also waives any right to challenge “standing” on appeal. State v. Childs, supra (14 Ohio St. 2d 56). See, also, United States v. Moody (C. A. 3, 1973), 485 F. 2d 531, 533, fn. 3, where the court likewise refused to determine, upon appeal, an appellant’s standing to challenge an alleged illegal search [312]*312and seizure because: (1) Appellant’s reliance on “automatic standing” under Jones v. United States, supra (362 U. S. 257), was reasonable; (2) the issue was not raised by the government until the appeal, and the trial court had no opportunity to examine the question, and (3) the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held for the government on the merits and a decision on the question would have no practical effect on the outcome.

II.

Appellants in case Nos. 74-81 and 74-94 contend that the warrantless search of the suitcase checked in the parcel and baggage room of the Penn Central Railroad Terminal violated their Fourth Amendment right to protection from unreasonable governmental searches and seizures.

Appellants maintain that the search, conducted by the Penn Central baggage agent, Penn Central security officer and Toledo police officers, was not a private search but was tainted by police participation, since the police officers unlocked the suitcase and later examined the evidence therein without a search warrant and without probable cause to search or exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless search. Since a determination as to the constitutional validity of the search in this case requires an examination of the facts surrounding the search, a review of the testimony taken at the suppression hearing and at trial is necessary.

The suitcase in question was checked in at the baggage room of the Penn Central Railroad Terminal in Toledo, Ohio, at approximately 11:13 a. m. on October 20, 1971. The baggage agent then on duty, Milton E. Julert, testified that a man, he later identified as Joaquin Ramos, brought in the suitcase and sought to deposit it at the baggage room. Julert suggested that the suitcase be placed in a coin locker on the main concourse of the terminal where it would be safer. The man insisted, however, that it be checked in the baggage room. He stated that he would leave it for a day or two.

[313]*313Julert thought that the circumstances under which the hag was deposited were unusual and gave him cause for concern. The baggage room was ordinarily used as a temporary depository for baggage received from incoming trains or to be placed on outgoing trains. The suitcase in question was the first item parcel-checked in the baggage room in six months. In Julert’s opinion, the man who left the suitcase seemed “tense and nervous,” as if anxious to leave the baggage area, and became hostile when it was suggested that he place the bag in a coin locker: Subsequently, on lifting the bag in order to move it, Julert testified that it felt unusually heavy. Upon rocking it back and forth, he observed that the contents made a “rustling” sound like cellophane or plastic would make. Julert testified that the thought passed through his mind that there may have been a bomb in the suitcase but he dismissed the idea and his primary concern was for protection of the checked suitcase. He stated, however, that he was constantly aware of the bag’s presence and concerned about it. Julert, since he was scheduled to be off duty for the next two days, notified Charles W.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
329 N.E.2d 85, 42 Ohio St. 2d 307, 71 Ohio Op. 2d 294, 1975 Ohio LEXIS 495, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-morris-ohio-1975.