Saxton v. Warden, Noble Corr. Inst.

TROY G. SAXTON, Petitioner, v. WARDEN, NOBLE CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Respondent.

No. 2:21-cv-4019

United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, Eastern Division

April 20, 2022

Sarah D. Morrison Judge

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

KIMBERLY A. JOLSON UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Petitioner a state prisoner, has filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. This case has been referred to the Undersigned pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Columbus' General Order 14-1 regarding assignments and references to United States Magistrate Judges.

This matter is before the Court to consider the Petition (Doc. 1) Respondent's Return of Writ (Doc. 9), Petitioner's Traverse (Doc. 12), and the state court record (Doc. 8). For the reasons that follow, it is RECOMMENDED that this action be DISMISSED.

I. BACKGROUND

On August 25, 2017, in case number 17CR4696, a Franklin County, Ohio Grand Jury returned a six-count Indictment charging Petitioner with multiple drug offenses. Specifically, Petitioner was charged with one count of possession of cocaine as a major drug offender (MDO) in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 2925.11, a first-degree felony (count one); one count of possession of heroin as a MDO in violation of R.C. § 2925.11, a first-degree felony (count two); one count of aggravated possession of drugs in violation of R.C. § 2925.11, a fifth-degree felony (count three); one count of possession of cocaine in violation of R.C. § 2925.11, a first-degree felony with an accompanying one-year firearm specification (count four); one count of possession of heroin in violation of § 2925.11, a second-degree felony, with an accompanying one-year firearm specification (count five); and one count of having a weapon while under disability in violation of R.C. § 2923.13, a third-degree felony (count six).

The charges against Petitioner followed the execution of two search warrants in January 2017. One warrant related to a search of 2100 Courtright Road, an auto-body shop co-owned by Petitioner, and the other related to Petitioner's residence at 6144 Stornoway Drive. It is the two counts of possession of cocaine (counts one and four), and the two counts of possession of heroin (counts two and five) that are at issue in this case.

The Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals summarized the facts of the case as follows:

On November 28, 2017, Saxton filed a motion to suppress, arguing the officers lacked probable cause to obtain the two search warrants. Specifically, Saxton argued the warrant for 2100 Courtright Road lacked sufficient particularity; the affidavit in support of the search warrant did not establish a nexus between 6144 Stornoway Drive and illegal activity; that the information in the search warrant affidavit had become stale; that the affidavit was deliberately or recklessly misleading; and that officers did not rely on the warrant in good faith. The state opposed the motion, and the trial court set the matter for a hearing.

At the suppression hearing on May 17, 2018, the state introduced copies of the search warrants for both Courtright Road and Stornoway Drive and the affidavit used to obtain both search warrants. The affidavit was signed by Detective Earl Grinstead of the Whitehall Police Department. In it, Detective Grinstead averred that four separate informants had contacted the narcotics unit of the Whitehall Police with information regarding a large-scale narcotics trafficking operation occurring at the auto body shop located at 2100 Courtright Road. The informants implicated Saxton and Malcolm Sunderland, the co-owners of the body shop, as well as other individuals associated with the body shop.

The affidavit further stated that based on the information from the informants, Whitehall police set up surveillance of 2100 Courtright Road and observed Saxton regularly come and go from the west door of the body shop. Police observed Saxton drive a GMC Yukon registered in his daughter's name, and a records check revealed Saxton's daughter had criminal cases in 2010 and 2014 involving drugs and a cash seizure of over $40, 000. Detective Grinstead averred in the affidavit that throughout the course of the surveillance, police officers witnessed a “constant flow” of traffic from both pedestrians and vehicles and interactions that resembled drug transactions in the parking lot of the body shop.

Detective Grinstead further averred that police checked Saxton's name and the 2100 Courtright Road address through their records system, and both had been “flagged” by the high intensity drug trafficking area task force (“HIDTA”). Specifically, the affidavit stated that a March 2016 investigation found Saxton “responsible” for the distribution of “multiple kilograms of cocaine” at the 2100 Courtright Road location. (Aff. in Support of Warrant to Search at 2.) The 2016 investigation also linked the location of 6144 Stornoway Drive to Saxton, which HIDTA investigators believed to be Saxton's residence. The HIDTA investigation allowed HIDTA agents to identify several “source dealers” linked to Saxton, and HIDTA agents recovered $36, 000 in cash that Saxton had given to a source dealer for a kilogram of cocaine. (Aff. in Support of Warrant to Search at 3.) Detective Grinstead then averred in the affidavit that an “indictment for conspiracy to distribute is pending against Troy Saxton” as a result of the HIDTA investigation. (Aff. in Support of Warrant to Search at 3.)

The affidavit also stated that on January 2, 2017, Whitehall police officers set up a controlled buy of crack cocaine at 2100 Courtright Road using an informant. The informant successfully purchased crack in the parking lot of the body shop from a person named Nick. Further, the affidavit stated that within 72 hours prior to the affidavit, Whitehall police officers instructed an informant to arrange a controlled buy of cocaine from Saxton at the body shop at 2100 Courtright Road. Prior to the transaction, officers witnessed Saxton arrive at the body shop and enter through the west door. A few minutes later, officers observed Saxton come back outside, meet the informant in the parking lot, and escort the informant back inside the body shop.

The informant successfully purchased cocaine while inside the body shop.

Following the controlled drug transaction, the affidavit stated Whitehall officers followed Saxton to 6144 Stornoway Drive where he parked his vehicle in the “designated parking spot” for that address and entered the apartment through the rear door. (Aff. in Support of Warrant to Search at 5.) Detective Grinstead averred that he believed the proceeds from the drug transaction would be at Saxton's residence along with drugs and drug-related assets. Additionally, Detective Grinstead noted that the prior HIDTA investigation “shows [Saxton] in and out of [6144 Stornoway Drive] prior to and after suspected drug transactions.” (Aff. in Support of Warrant to Search at 5.) Finally, the affidavit noted Saxton's prior criminal history includes several convictions for drug-related offenses, as well as convictions for domestic violence and assault.

* * * Following the hearing, the trial court denied Saxton's motion to suppress in a May 31, 2018 decision and entry. Specifically, the trial court found both search warrants were valid and contained probable cause to search both the body shop on Courtright Road and the apartment on Stornoway Drive. * * *

Subsequently, on June 18, 2018, Saxton entered pleas of no contest to all six counts of the indictment. At the plea hearing, the state provided the following facts: when police apprehended Saxton, he had $635 in cash on his person as well as pills in his jacket pockets and in the console of his vehicle. The search of Stornoway Drive yielded approximately 267 grams of cocaine, 36 grams of heroin, 2, 000 grams of “brick-sized” cocaine, another 830 grams of heroin, digital scales, and a drug press. (June 18, 2018 Tr. at 7-8.) Additionally, the search of Courtright Road yielded 68 grams of cocaine, 45 grams of heroin, a digital scale, a notebook with names and addresses, 31 individually wrapped pills, 3 grams of crack cocaine, and a loaded pistol in a crate in the mechanic's bay of the body shop. The trial court accepted Saxton's plea, found him guilty of all six offenses, and sentenced him to an aggregate prison term of 18 years, journalizing his conviction in a November 1, 2018 judgment entry.

State v. Saxton, No. 18AP-925, 2019 WL 6974455, *1-3 (Ohio App. 10th Dist. Dec. 19, 2019).

Following the denial of Petitioner's motion to suppress, Petitioner entered a no contest plea to all six counts of the Indictment. The trial court sentenced Petitioner to an aggregate prison term of eighteen years. Specifically, the trial court sentenced Petitioner to eleven years as to both counts one (possession of cocaine) and two (possession of heroin), to run concurrently. The court sentenced Petitioner to an additional seven years-twelve months on count three (aggravated possession of drugs), three years plus a one-year firearm specification on count four (possession of cocaine), and two years on count five (possession of heroin)-to run consecutively to each other and count one. The court sentenced Petitioner to twelve months imprisonment on count six (weapon under disability) to run concurrently to count one. (Doc. 8, at PAGEID # 100.)

Petitioner took a timely appeal, raising three assignments of error:

First Assignment of Error: The trial court erred in denying defendant-appellant's motion to suppress heroin, cocaine and a firearm seized by law enforcement officers pursuant to search warrants that were issued and executed in violation of his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States

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