State v. Perez

3 Ohio App. Unrep. 263
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 30, 1990
DocketCase No. 89CA004611
StatusPublished

This text of 3 Ohio App. Unrep. 263 (State v. Perez) 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. Perez, 3 Ohio App. Unrep. 263 (Ohio Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

BAIRD, J.

The cause came before the court upon the appeal of Robert Perez from his conviction based upon a no contest plea to aggravated burglary, robbery, and receiving stolen property.

Pursuant to the Interstate Compact for the Supervision of Parolees and Probationers, the State of California permitted Robert Perez, a California parolee, two move to Ohio. Soon after Perez arrived in Ohio, his parole officer in Ohio received information from California that it had issued an arrest warrant for Perez for alleged burglaries that he committed before he left the state When Perez came to meet with the parole officer, he was immediately arrested.

[264]*264During the booking process, the parole officer saw that Perez had a large quantity of cash on his person as well as a handcuff key. The large amount of cash, alone, made the parole officer suspicious because Perez had not been working,

The parole officer then searched Perez's car. He found cotton gloves, hand tools, extension cords, and money bags in the car. He also learned from the Lorain Police Department and the Amherst Police Department that they were investigating Perez for various burglaries. After discussing the situation with his supervisor; he received permission to go to Perez's home. A Lorain detective accompanied him.

Upon arriving at Perez's home, the parole officer opened the garage door, where he discovered a black Cadillac. He looked inside the car and saw velvet and suede bags filled with coins. He entered the house and walked through various rooms where he found large amounts of jewelry, computer equipment, and miscellaneous household items. The parole officer then contacted another officer from the Lorain Police Department who procured a search warrant.

The defendant was subsequently indicted on three counts of aggravated burglary, one count of robbery, and one count of receiving stole property. Each count was accompanied by a specification based upon his prior conviction for burglary in California. Perez moved to suppress the evidence that the state seized pursuant to the warrant, claiming that the search warrant was based upon information received from the initial illegal search. The court heard the motion on the day of trial. Only the state presented testimony concerning the search. Neither the warrant nor supporting affidavits were submitted into evidence. The court denied the motion, basing its denial on the right of the parole officer to conduct the initial warrantless search.

Perez then moved for permission to dismiss his attorney and to continue the trial. The trial court denied the motion. Upon the state's nolle of one count of aggravated burglary, the defendant pleaded no contest to the remaining counts. Sentence was imposed, and from this sentence Perez appeals, assigning two errors.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

"The trial court erred, to the prejudice of appellant, and in violation of the [sic] Article I, Section 14, of the Ohio Constitution, when it denied appellant's motion to suppress."

Perez complains that the trial court erred when it refused to suppress the evidence that was seized pursuant to the parole officer's warrant-less search. For the first time on appeal, the state contends that Perez's arguments concerning the initial warrantless search ignore that the seizure of the items was by warrant. According to the state, because the seizure was by warrant, Perez had the burden of showing that the search was somehow illegal.

Typically, the movant in a suppression hearing, the party challenging the search or seizure, has the burden of establishing whether the search or seizure was authorized by a warrant. See Zenia v. Wallace (1988), 37 Ohio St. 3d 216, 218; see also United States v. De La Fuente (C.A. 5, 1977), 548 F. 2d 528, 533-534. Where a search is established to be warrantless, the burden of persuasion is on the state to show the validity of the search. Xenia v. Wallace, supra. Where, however, the search is conducted under the authority of a warrant, the one challenging the search has the burden of showing the warrant was not based on probable cause, or was invalid in some other way. See United States v. Osborne (C.A. 5, 1980), 630 F. 2d 374.

Perez did not in the trial court, nor does he on appeal, attack the basis for the warrant. The suppression hearing, moreover, was conducted as if the search was made without a warrant. While we tend to agree with the state that Perez did not sustain his burden of showing that the warrant was based upon information derived from the initial warrantless search, we decline to dispose of the assignment of error on this ground. The state raised no objection as to the manner in which the hearing was conducted, and, by its own actions in presenting evidence as to the parole officer's right to conduct a warrantless search, tacitly accepted that it had the burden to justify the search. Because the state acted as if it had the burden to justify the legality of the search, it should not now be heard to complain that the burden was actually on Perez to show that the search was illegal. We now turn to discussingthe validity of the search and seizure at issue

Pursuant to his parole in California, Perez signed a parole agreement that contained the following condition:

M* * *

"You and your residence and any property under your control may be searched without a warrant by any agent or a Department of Corrections or any law enforcement officer.

«** * * • •

At oral argument, the parties agreed that if the warrantless search condition was valid in [265]*265California, it would be considered valid in Ohio. We also note that the Ohio parole officer had the authority to enforce all conditions set forth in the California parole agreement, including the condition that allows for warrantless searches. Under the Uniform Act for Our-of-state Parolee Supervision, as Codified in R.C. 5149.17, the receiving state assumesthe duties of visitation of and supervision over parolees. R.C. 5149.17(B). The receiving state; however, does no more than enforce the sending state's parole. Knight v. Stickrath (1988), 40 Ohio St. 3d 38, 39. Therefore, Perez was bound by the conditions imposed upon him in California, which were enforceable by the parole authorities in Ohio.

Parolees possess Fourth Amendment rights more limited than other people because they are considered to be in constructive custody of the state during their parole. State v. Thompson (1987), 33 Ohio St. 3d 1, 7. California courts justify exempting parole searches from the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment on the ground that searches are necessary for effective parole supervision. People v. Burgener (1986), 41 Cal. 3d 505, 714 P. 2d 1251, 1269, 224 Cal. Rptr. 112. In California, although the parole officer need not have probably cause to conduct the warrantless search, he must have a reasonable suspicion that the parolee is involved in criminal activity or has violated his parole, and that the search may reveal evidence of the violation. Id., 714 P. 2d at 1271. The suspicion must be founded upon articulable facts that, taken together with rational inferences from those facts» justify objectively reasonable suspicion. Id.

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Related

State v. Holmes
521 N.E.2d 479 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1987)
State v. Hook
514 N.E.2d 721 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1986)
State v. Dukes
518 N.E.2d 28 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1986)
People v. Burgener
714 P.2d 1251 (California Supreme Court, 1986)
State v. Thompson
514 N.E.2d 407 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1987)
City of Xenia v. Wallace
524 N.E.2d 889 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1988)
Knight v. Stickrath
531 N.E.2d 716 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
3 Ohio App. Unrep. 263, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-perez-ohioctapp-1990.