State v. Moten

2012 Ohio 6046
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 21, 2012
Docket2011 CA 37
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

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Bluebook
State v. Moten, 2012 Ohio 6046 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Moten, 2012-Ohio-6046.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

STATE OF OHIO :

Plaintiff-Appellee : C.A. CASE NO. 2011 CA 37

vs. : T.C. CASE NO. 2009 CR 818

LAWRENCE P. MOTEN : (Appeal from Common Pleas Court - Criminal Division) Defendant-Appellant :

.........

OPINION

Rendered on the 21st day of December, 2012.

Stephen K. Haller, Prosecuting Attorney, by Nathaniel R. Luken, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Atty. Reg. No. 0087864, 61 Greene Street, Xenia, Ohio 45385 Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee

Anthony R. Cicero, Atty. Reg. No. 0065408, 500 East Fifth Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402 Attorney for Defendant-Appellant

......... GRADY, P.J.:

{¶ 1} Defendant Lawrence Moten appeals from his conviction and sentence for

aggravated robbery, R.C. 2911.01(A)(1), and kidnaping, R.C. 2905.01(A)(2), both felonies of

the first degree.

{¶ 2} Early on the morning of December 11, 2009, Xenia Police Officer Roop was

dispatched to the Regency Inn Motel on a report of an armed robbery. The night desk clerk,

James Furnas, told the officer that a man came in, pointed a gun at him, and demanded

money, which Furnas gave him. The robber then forced Furnas into a bathroom and tied his hands together. The robber also took Furnas’s watch. After the robber left the motel, Furnas

freed himself and called the police.

{¶ 3} Furnas described the robber as a young, clean-shaven, medium to dark

complected black man, about five feet eight inches tall. The robber wore a dark, hooded

jacket, with the hood up, but no mask. At trial, Furnas identified Defendant Moten as the

man who robbed him.

{¶ 4} Shortly before the robbery, Officer Sanso was parked in a school parking lot.

A white Impala pulled in, but promptly left when its driver saw the officer’s police cruiser.

Officer Sanso followed the car to a parking lot near the Regency Inn. There were two

occupants. The passenger got out and walked toward the motel. He was wearing a grey

hooded sweatshirt. When the driver pulled out of the lot, Officer Sanso followed him until

he pulled into a fast food restaurant.

{¶ 5} Minutes later, Officer Sanso heard the broadcast regarding the robbery. He

gave his fellow officers information about the white Impala, suspecting that it may have been

involved in the robbery. Officer Sanso soon found the car and, after seeing it cross over the

marked line onto the shoulder of the road, decided to conduct a traffic stop. The car was

driven by Clayton Brady, who had an open bottle of liquor in the car with him. Officer Sanso

arrested Brady and called for back up. Sergeant Stutes responded. A handgun was found on

the floor of Brady’s car.

{¶ 6} Shortly after the robbery, Xenia police received a call from Eli McDufford,

who lived near the Regency Inn Motel. McDufford stated that a black man wearing dark

clothing and carrying a handgun had forced his way into McDufford’s apartment. McDufford

fought the man, disarming him, and the man left. When Officer Stott arrived at the 3

apartment, McDufford gave him the gun he took from the man. Officer Stott secured the

loaded gun in his cruiser and told McDufford that an officer would return to talk to him

further.

{¶ 7} Shortly after Officer Stott left, McDufford found a cell phone on his floor, near

where the altercation had occurred. McDufford assumed that the phone belonged to the man

who had forced his way into the apartment. When Detective Barlow arrived at McDufford’s

apartment a couple of hours later, McDufford gave the phone to the detective.

{¶ 8} Detective Clay interrogated Brady several hours after the robbery. Brady

admitted that he was to have been the getaway driver for Defendant after he robbed the motel.

Brady dropped Defendant off at the motel, but was stopped by police before he could return

to pick Defendant up. Brady identified the coat worn by the robber on the surveillance tape

as being the same as the one worn by Defendant when Brady dropped him off at the motel.

Brady also identified the cell phone found at McDufford’s apartment as belonging to

Defendant. In exchange for Brady’s trial testimony, the State reduced the charges against

him and agreed not to oppose any motion he might file for judicial release.

{¶ 9} Detective Clay looked at the call log and photographs on the cell phone and

determined the number assigned to the phone. She then subpoenaed the phone records and

learned that the phone belonged to Defendant, who had not reported it missing. As a result of

Detective Clay’s prior contact with Defendant and her interrogation of Brady, she was able to

identify Defendant as the robber from the videotaped surveillance of the motel.

{¶ 10} Carol Spradlin, the manager of the Harmony Motel in Springfield, saw

Defendant’s photo on the news on the night of the robbery. She recognized him as one of the 4

men staying at the motel, but under a different name. The man had been staying in there for

about ten days, along with another male who drove a white Impala. Spradlin went to

Defendant’s room, where Defendant confirmed that he was the person whose photo was

shown on the news broadcast. Within a couple of hours, Defendant checked out of the motel,

telling Spradlin that he was going to take a bus to New York, where he had family. Spradlin

called the police the next day.

{¶ 11} Defendant was indicted on one count each of aggravated robbery, kidnaping,

and aggravated burglary; each charge carried a firearm specification. Defendant was arrested

in New York and extradited to Ohio. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, which the trial

court overruled. The case proceeded to trial. The trial court dismissed the aggravated

burglary charge at the close of the State’s case. The jury found Defendant guilty of the

aggravated robbery and kidnaping charges and specifications. The trial court merged the two

counts and sentenced Defendant to thirteen years in prison.

{¶ 12} Defendant appeals, raising five assignments of error.

{¶ 13} Defendant’s First Assignment of Error:

“THE VERDICT SHOULD BE REVERSED BECAUSE THE TRIAL COURT ERRED

WHEN IT OVERRULED APPELLANT’S MOTION TO SUPPRESS THE INFORMATION

GAINED FROM THE CELL PHONE WITHOUT A WARRANT, WHICH VIOLATED HIS

RIGHTS GUARANTEED BY THE FOURTH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES

CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE I, SECTION FOURTEEN OF THE CONSTITUTION OF

OHIO.” 5

{¶ 14} When considering a motion to suppress, the trial court assumes the role of the

trier of facts and is therefore in the best position to resolve factual questions and evaluate the

credibility of the witnesses. State v. Roberts, 110 Ohio St.3d 71, 2006-Ohio-3665, 850

N.E.2d 1168. Consequently, an appellate court must accept the trial court’s findings of fact if

they are supported by competent, credible evidence. Id. Accepting those facts as true, the

appellate court must then independently determine, without deference to the trial court’s

conclusion, whether those facts satisfy the applicable legal standard. Id.

{¶ 15} Defendant argues that cell phones are entitled to Fourth Amendment

protection when they come into the custody of the police. In support, he relies on State v.

Smith, 124 Ohio St.3d 163, 2009-Ohio-6426, 920 N.E.2d 949, wherein the Ohio Supreme

Court held in its Syllabus that “[t]he warrantless search of data within a cell phone seized

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