State v. Pippin

2017 Ohio 6970, 94 N.E.3d 1186
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 26, 2017
DocketNOS. C–160380; C–160381
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 2017 Ohio 6970 (State v. Pippin) 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. Pippin, 2017 Ohio 6970, 94 N.E.3d 1186 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Deters, Judge.

{¶ 1} Tony Pippin appeals his convictions for rape and pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor, stemming from the discovery of videos on his cell phone that showed him raping a 15-year-old girl. We hold that the video evidence was admissible at trial because it was discovered pursuant to a lawful search warrant. We also conclude that the court properly denied suppression motions without an evidentiary hearing on the validity of the warrant. Finally, we hold that the court properly sentenced Pippin. Therefore, we affirm the trial court's judgment.

Background

{¶ 2} Police seized Pippin's cell phone and other evidence from his residence when they executed a search warrant issued on December 15, 2012. Police had obtained the warrant during their investigation into multiple rape and burglary offenses. After Pippin's phone was seized, it was secured in the property room of the Delhi Township Police Department.

{¶ 3} On December 18, 2012, Delhi Township Police Detective Adam L. Cox sought a warrant from a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge to authorize the search of the data contained within Pippin's phone. Before driving from the Hamilton County courthouse back to Delhi, Cox delivered the phone to the forensics unit of the Cincinnati Police Division for extraction of the data.

{¶ 4} Cincinnati Police Officer Scott Radigan, a video and cell phone forensics analyst, began preparing Pippin's cell phone for data extraction. He removed the back of the phone to determine its model number, and then made adjustments to the phone settings to allow for the data transfer.

{¶ 5} After experiencing initial problems getting the data download to start with his standard equipment, Radigan further examined the phone and opened the photo gallery as part of his troubleshooting. He was eventually able to get the extraction process started by using a different digital forensics product.

{¶ 6} Before the extraction was completed, Radigan got a call from Cox, who told him to stop the extraction that was in progress. Radigan disconnected the phone from the forensics equipment and pulled the battery out of the phone. According to Cox, he had been about to fax a copy of the search warrant and affidavit to Pippin's attorney when he discovered that the judge had failed to sign the search warrant.

{¶ 7} Because it was late in the day, Cox believed that the issuing judge was unavailable, so he resubmitted the warrant to the judge the following morning. The judge signed and dated it that day (December 19), and marked it "as of" December 18, 2012. Cox called Radigan and told him to go ahead with the data extraction.

{¶ 8} Data from the extraction indicated that the phone was next accessed on December 20, 2012, the day that the data extraction was completed. A digital disc containing the extracted data was delivered to Detective Cox. He reviewed the information on the disc and discovered several videos depicting sexual acts with an underage female. Using other data from the download, he was able to identify the 15-year-old victim.

{¶ 9} Pippin was charged in a 21-count indictment with multiple sex offenses involving four different victims, as well as burglary, robbery, felonious assault, and receiving stolen property. The trial court severed ten of the charges, which related to the child victim depicted in the videos on Pippin's cell phone.

{¶ 10} In his motions to suppress the videos on his cell phone, Pippin argued that the police had searched the contents of his phone on December 18 without a valid signed warrant. He asserted that the December 19 search warrant did not cure the warrantless search of the phone that had occurred on December 18. Following a hearing at which forensic experts testified, the trial court denied the motions. The court found that Radigan's aborted effort to download data from the phone on December 18 did not constitute a search because there was no evidence that the data partially extracted at the point of interruption was viewed or even viewable. Therefore, the court concluded, the search of the phone occurred no earlier than December 20, when the data was next accessed and the extraction was completed pursuant to the signed December 19 search warrant.

{¶ 11} After the court denied his motions to suppress, Pippin entered pleas of no contest to the ten charges. The court sentenced Pippin for six offenses but did not dispose of four offenses, by merger or otherwise. We dismissed Pippin's direct appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the trial court's judgment was not a final order. See State v. Pippin , 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-150061, 2016-Ohio-312 , 2016 WL 524355 .

{¶ 12} Thereafter, the trial court issued a sentencing entry that disposed of the remaining four offenses. The court merged two offenses of sexual battery and two offenses of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor with two rape offenses. The court sentenced Pippin to consecutive eight-year prison terms for the rape offenses, and ordered the terms to run consecutively to concurrent eight-year prison terms for four counts of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor, for a total of 24 years. Pippin now appeals.

Suppression of the Cell Phone Videos

{¶ 13} In his first assignment of error, Pippin argues that the trial court erred by failing to suppress the contents of his cell phone. He contends that police conducted the search of his phone in violation of his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and under Article I, Section 14, of the Ohio Constitution.

{¶ 14} Pippin also asserts, for the first time, that the seizure of his cell phone from his residence pursuant to the December 15 search warrant was unlawful. However, in seeking to suppress the evidence against him, Pippin challenged the constitutionality of the search of the phone's contents, but not the seizure of the phone itself. He did not challenge the validity of the December 15 search warrant in the trial court, and cannot do so for the first time on appeal. See State v. Peagler , 76 Ohio St.3d 496 , 500, 668 N.E.2d 489 (1996). Therefore, he has waived any argument about the seizure of the phone for purposes of appeal. Id. Accordingly, we address only the arguments regarding the phone's contents.

{¶ 15} Appellate review of a motion to suppress presents a mixed question of law and fact. State v. Burnside , 100 Ohio St.3d 152 , 2003-Ohio-5372 ,

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Bluebook (online)
2017 Ohio 6970, 94 N.E.3d 1186, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pippin-ohioctapp-2017.