State v. Strozier

• Decision Date: 31 August 2007
• Docket Number: No. 21746.,21746.
• Citation: 172 Ohio App.3d 780,2007 Ohio 4575,876 N.E.2d 1304
• Parties: The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. STROZIER, Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

876 N.E.2d 1304

172 Ohio App.3d 780

2007-Ohio-4575

The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. STROZIER, Appellant.

No. 21746.

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Second District, Montgomery County.

Decided August 31, 2007.

Mathias H. Heck Jr., Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney, and Michele D. Phipps, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Charles W. Slicer III, Dayton, for appellant.

WOLFF, Presiding Judge.

{¶ 1} Terrell L. Strozier pleaded no contest to possession of heroin in an amount more than ten grams but less than 50 grams after the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas overruled his motion to suppress evidence. The court found him guilty, and it sentenced him to two years of incarceration and a six-month driver's license suspension. Strozier appeals, raising one assignment of error.

{¶ 2} "The trial court erred when it failed to suppress certain incriminating statements made to officers prior to the Miranda warning."

{¶ 3} The testimony presented at the motion-to-suppress hearing reveals the following facts. At approximately 3:30 a.m. on August 3, 2005, Sergeant Eric Wilson of the Trotwood police department observed a maroon pickup truck driving erratically. The vehicle crossed the center line a couple of times and rolled through a stop sign. Wilson, who was driving behind the truck, ran the license plate number and learned that the vehicle had been reported stolen. Wilson called dispatch to verify that the truck had been entered as a stolen vehicle and dispatch confirmed the report. Wilson followed the truck into the city of Dayton and requested assistance.

{¶ 4} The truck stopped in front of 833 Osmond Avenue, and a male passenger, Strozier, exited. Wilson turned on his overhead lights, exited his cruiser, and ordered Strozier to return to the truck. Wilson stated that he wanted all of the occupants of the vehicle in the truck for safety reasons. Specifically, he did not want to risk the passenger circling back and harming him from behind. Strozier returned to the vehicle. Wilson also ordered the driver to turn off the vehicle and toss the keys out of the window. The driver complied.

{¶ 5} At this time, two or three officers from the Dayton police department and a Trotwood officer, Roy McGill, arrived. With guns drawn, the officers ordered the driver, a female passenger, and Strozier to exit the truck and to lie prone on the ground. Wilson and McGill both testified that they did not have any facts to lead them to believe that Strozier, the passenger, had a weapon. Wilson stated, "[T]hat's why they were ordered to the ground because we did not know, and we were going to make sure." Wilson and McGill emphasized that they were conducting a "felony stop" and that the stop occurred in a high-crime area.

{¶ 6} Wilson focused on the driver. Wilson patted down the driver and placed him in his cruiser. Dayton police officers took custody of the female passenger because she had an outstanding warrant.

{¶ 7} McGill testified that he "secured" Strozier by handcuffing him while he was on the ground and then stood him up to conduct a pat-down search. McGill stated that prior to conducting the pat-down, he asked Strozier if he had "anything on [him] I need to know about? Anything that might stick me?" Strozier responded that he had a plastic bag with some brown stuff in it in his pocket. McGill retrieved the bag from Strozier's left pants pocket and, based on his experience, he believed that the bag contained heroin. McGill placed Strozier in his cruiser and informed him of his Miranda rights. Strozier indicated that he understood his rights and that he was willing to talk to McGill. Afterwards, Strozier told McGill that he had picked up the bag off the ground at Delphos Market and that he thought he could trade it for other drugs or money. Strozier indicated that he used marijuana and crack cocaine and that he couldn't use needles. When McGill told Strozier the brown substance was heroin, Strozier stated, "That's three grams of heroin then."

{¶ 8} On March 9, 2006, Strozier was indicated for possession of heroin, in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A). On April 26, 2006, Strozier moved to suppress the heroin and all of his statements, arguing that his detention and search were in violation of his constitutional rights. On June 19, 2006, the court conducted an evidentiary hearing on the motion, during which Wilson and McGill testified.

{¶ 9} On July 11, 2006, the trial court overruled the motion to suppress. The court first concluded that Wilson was justified in stopping the pickup truck and in detaining the passengers until he could determine whether any of them posed a risk to his safety. The court continued:

{¶ 10} "The question then becomes whether Defendant was under custodial interrogation prior to being mirandized. As set forth above, Defendant was handcuffed and asked by McGill prior to his pat-down, `Do you have anything on you I need to know about? Anything that might stick me?' The Court acknowledges that being ordered out at gunpoint and handcuffed is a more drastic form of detention than used under most Terry stops. However `Terry does recognize that the police are entitled to take reasonable measures to ensure their own safety, including handcuffing should the situation warrant it.' [State v. Jones (Dec. 3, 1999), 1st Dist. No. C-990125, 1999 WL 1488937], at *11. In this case, both Wilson and McGill credibly testified that they were uneasy about the risk that was involved in this situation and needed to take precautions to ensure their safety.

{¶ 11} "Furthermore, under the `public safety exception to the Miranda rule, a suspect's answers to questions from a police officer are admissible in the absence of a Miranda warning so long as the questions asked of the suspect are reasonably prompted by a concern for the public safety.' State v. Morgan [2d Dist. No. 20987], 2005-Ohio-6542 . McGill credibly testified that his question to Defendant was based on his concern that he may be stuck by a needle or other object while conducting the pat-down. Moreover, the question itself related to such a subject. Under these circumstances, the Court finds that McGill's question to Defendant falls under the public safety exception to the Miranda rule, and his statements are not suppressed."

{¶ 12} On appeal, Strozier claims that his incriminating statement regarding the drugs in his pocket was the product of police interrogation and, because he made the statement prior to being advised of his Miranda rights, he asserts that it should have been suppressed. Strozier contends that the trial court erred in applying the public-safety exception to the Miranda rule. Although Strozier focuses on his statement, we presume — as does the state — that he intends to argue that the heroin itself also should have been suppressed as fruit of the unlawfully obtained statement.

{¶ 13} In reviewing the trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress evidence, this court must accept the findings of fact made by the trial court if they are supported by competent, credible evidence. See State v. Morgan (Jan. 18, 2002), Montgomery App. No. 18985, 2002 WL 63196. However, "the reviewing court must independently determine, as a matter of law, whether the facts meet the appropriate legal standard." Id.

{¶ 14} As an initial matter, Strozier understandably has not challenged the trial court's conclusions that Wilson was justified in stopping the pickup truck and that he lawfully detained the passengers. The fact that the pickup truck had been reported stolen provided probable cause for Wilson to stop the vehicle. "When a lawfully stopped vehicle contains passengers, the Fourth Amendment permits law enforcement officers to detain those passengers for the duration of the lawful detention of the driver." State v. Brown, Montgomery App. No. 20336, 2004-Ohio-4058, 2004 WL 1730132, ¶ 14. In addition, the Supreme Court has held that due to concerns for officer safety and the minimal intrusion for the driver and passengers, the officers may order both the driver and the passengers to exit the vehicle. Maryland v. Wilson (1997), 519 U.S. 408, 117 S.Ct. 882, 137 L.Ed.2d 41.

{¶ 15} The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "[n]o person * * * shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." "The Fifth Amendment privilege against compulsory self-incrimination `protects against any disclosures that the witness reasonably believes could be used in a criminal prosecution or could lead to other evidence that might be so used.'" Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nevada, Humboldt Cty. (2004), 542 U.S. 177, 190, 124 S.Ct. 2451, 159 L.Ed.2d 292, quoting Kastigar v. United States (1972), 406 U.S. 441, 445, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212; Ohio v. Reiner (2001), 532 U.S. 17, 20, 121 S.Ct. 1252, 149 L.Ed.2d 158.

{¶ 16} The right to Miranda warnings is grounded in the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against compelled self-incrimination. Moran v. Burbine (1986), 475 U.S. 412, 420, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 89 L.Ed.2d 410. It is well established, however, that the police are not required to administer Miranda warnings to every individual they question. State v. Biros (1997), 78 Ohio St.3d 426, 440, 678 N.E.2d 891. Rather, only custodial interrogations trigger the need for Miranda warnings. Id., citing Oregon v. Mathiason (1977), 429 U.S. 492, 495, 97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714; State v. Wenzler, Greene App. No. 2003-CA-16, 2004-Ohio-1811, 2004 WL 758384, ¶ 15. "An individual is in custody when there has been a formal arrest or a restraint of freedom of movement such that a reasonable man would believe that he is under arrest." Wenzler at ¶ 15.

{¶ 17} "Not all seizures rise to the level of a formal arrest. Under Terry v. Ohio (1968), 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, police officers may briefly stop and/or temporarily detain individuals in order to investigate possible criminal activity if the officers have a...