State v. Woods

1

2024-Ohio-5301

STATE OF OHIO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ANTHONY L. WOODS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 22CA3979

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Fourth District, Scioto

October 29, 2024

Gene Meadows, Jackson, Ohio, for appellant.

Shane A. Tieman, Scioto County Prosecuting Attorney, and Jay S Willis, Assistant Scioto County Prosecutor, Portsmouth, Ohio for appellee.

DECISION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY

Kristy S. Wilkin, Judge

{¶1} This is an appeal from a Scioto County Court of Common Pleas judgment entry of conviction of appellant, Anthony L. Woods ("Woods"), for (1) trafficking in cocaine, in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(2) and (C)(4)(f), a first-degree felony; (2) possession of cocaine, in violation of R.C 2925.11(A) and (C)(4)(e), a first-degree felony; and (3) possessing criminal tools, in violation of R.C. 2923.24(A) and (C), a fifth-degree felony. Counts 1 and 2 were found to be allied offenses of similar import and merged for purposes of sentencing. The trial court then imposed an aggregate indefinite prison term of 11 to 16 years.

{¶2} On appeal, Woods asserts six assignments of error. For the reasons that follow, we overrule all six. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's judgment of conviction.

BACKGROUND

{¶3} Late in the evening of August 23, 2020, while traveling on State Route 823 in Scioto County, Ohio, Ohio State Patrol Trooper Nicholas Lewis observed a vehicle in front of him with a North Carolina license plate that appeared to be a rental. Knowing that traffickers often utilize rental vehicles, he decided to follow the vehicle. While doing so Trooper Lewis observed the vehicle cross the fog line, which marks the edge of the road, twice. The first time it crossed the fog line by one tire's width. The second time the car's tire crossed the fog line by two tire widths. Therefore, Trooper Lewis executed a traffic stop just before midnight.

{¶4} Trooper Lewis explained to the driver, who was subsequently identified as Woods, that the reason he was stopped was because he ran off the road. There were also two passengers in the vehicle. Trooper Lewis asked Woods to exit the vehicle and then asked him if he had any weapons or if he had been drinking or smoking. Woods responded no to both questions and then told Trooper Lewis that they were "going on vacation." Trooper Lewis asked Woods where they were headed. Woods said they were going to West Virginia first, and then to Tennessee. Trooper Lewis asked Woods who he had with him, and Woods responded Meghan and his second response was unintelligible. Trooper Lewis told Woods that he was going to speak to his passengers.

{¶5} Trooper Lewis asked the front-seat passenger, subsequently identified as Meghan Wilson, for identification, but she had none. Consequently, Trooper Lewis asked her for a social security number. He also asked Wilson where they were headed, and she said: "Myrtle Beach." The back-seat passenger also had no identification, so Trooper Lewis requested her social security number and her name. She provided Trooper Lewis her social security number and said her name was Taliya Edwards. Trooper Lewis testified not having identification is "usually a pretty good indicator that they got a warrant[,]" which is why he acquired their information.

{¶6} Trooper Lewis then returned to Woods and told him to have a seat in his vehicle while he (Trooper Lewis) checked Woods' and his passengers' information. At six minutes into the traffic stop, Trooper Lewis returned to his cruiser. Initially, Trooper Lewis requested Ohio State Trooper Ryan Day to assist him with this stop. He then relayed the information he had gathered from Woods and Wilson to his dispatcher in order to verify their identities and the validity of Woods' driver's license. Dispatch appeared to verify Meghan Wilson^[1] and Woods' identities and that Woods' driver's license was valid. Trooper Lewis also learned that Wilson had an outstanding felony warrant. However, he was aware that Wilson's warrant needed to be confirmed before she could be taken to jail. Otherwise, she would need to be released.

{¶7} At approximately 9 minutes and 43 seconds into the stop, Trooper Lewis called in the second passenger's information for verification. Less than two minutes later, dispatch verified that the second passenger was Taliya Edwards.

{¶8} At approximately 12 minutes into the stop, Trooper Day arrived on the scene with his drug-detecting canine. Trooper Lewis exited his cruiser and informed Woods that Trooper Day was going to "run his dog around the car real fast." The canine sniffed the perimeter of the car until it reached the back cargo door where it began scratching, which indicated that it had detected the presence of drugs.

{¶9} Trooper Lewis informed Woods and his passengers that the canine "alerted to the car." He told them that they were not under arrest, but he needed to read them their Miranda rights. Trooper Lewis read all three their Miranda rights and did a pat-down search of each of them for weapons prior to placing them in the troopers' patrol vehicles.

{¶10} Because Wilson had an outstanding warrant, Trooper Lewis patted her down first. While conducting the search, Trooper Lewis felt an object in Wilson's pants, which she removed. It was a baggie that contained a powder that Trooper Lewis believed to be cocaine, so he seized it. Trooper Lewis then placed Wilson in the back seat of his cruiser. Trooper Lewis discovered no weapons or contraband when searching Edwards and Woods.

{¶11} The troopers then searched the vehicle for drugs, which took approximately 12 minutes. While the troopers were searching the vehicle, the dispatcher can be heard on Trooper Lewis radio confirming Wilson s warrant. The troopers found no contraband in the car.^[2]

{¶12} Trooper Lewis decided not to cite Woods from driving over the fog line and released Woods and Edwards. However, he "transported Wilson to the Scioto County Jail where she was incarcerated for felony I possession of Cocaine and on the felony warrant." Trooper Lewis' report indicated that "[t]he seized contraband was shipped to the OSHP Crime Lab for analysis. This case will be forwarded to the Scioto County Prosecutor's Office for charges regarding Mr. Woods and Ms. Edwards once lab results are received."

{¶13} Subsequent to the traffic stop, the baggie of powder recovered from Wilson's pants tested positive for approximately 51 grams of cocaine.

{¶14} On January 12, 2021, a grand jury indicted Woods for (1) possession of cocaine in violation of R.C. 2925.03(A)(2) and (C)(4)(f), a first-degree felony; (2) trafficking in cocaine in violation of R.C. 2925.11(A) and (C)(4)(e), a first-degree felony; (3) tampering with evidence in violation of R.C. 2921.12(A)(1) and (B), a third-degree felony; and (4) possession of criminal tools in violation of R.C. 2923.24(A) and (C), a fifth-degree felony.

{¶15} Woods filed a motion to suppress all the evidence, as well as statements made by Woods, Wilson, and Edwards pertaining to the August 13, 2020 traffic stop. Woods alleged that there was no probable cause supporting a traffic stop because he did not commit a traffic violation. Because the stop was not justified, Woods maintained that the searches that occurred incident to the traffic stop were unconstitutional and none of the exceptions that permit a warrantless search applied. Therefore, he alleged, all the evidence acquired during the stop from the vehicle should be subject to the exclusionary rule. Woods argued that even if Trooper Lewis had probable cause to execute a traffic stop, the true purpose of the stop was not to issue a citation, but to search the vehicle without a search warrant in violation the Fourth Amendment.

{¶16} Woods also argued if searching Wilson was justified because of her outstanding warrant, it was limited to a pat-down search for weapons, not contraband. Therefore, he claimed, Trooper Lewis' search of Wilson went beyond the scope of the search permitted under the circumstances and the contraband recovered from her should be excluded from the evidence.

{¶17} In response, the State asserted that Trooper Lewis had probable cause for the traffic stop because he observed the vehicle Woods was driving cross the fog line on the edge of the road several times, which was a traffic violation.

{¶18} The State also argued that Woods had no standing to challenge the pat-down search of his passenger, Wilson. The State also maintained that once Wilson's outstanding warrant was confirmed, a pat-down search would have occurred and inevitably resulted in the discovery of the contraband. The State also claims that although Woods was subject to a pat-down search, Trooper Lewis discovered no contraband, so it is unclear what Woods was challenging regarding the search performed on him.

{¶19} The State also maintained that the duration of the traffic stop was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. The State noted that Trooper Day arrived with a drug-sniffing canine within ten minutes of the start of the traffic stop and performed a sniff that alerted the canine of the existence of drugs in the car. Trooper Lewis discovered that Woods had a valid license 8 minutes and 20 seconds after the traffic stop was initiated. However, neither the return of Edwards information, nor confirmation of Wilson's warrant, were relayed to Trooper Lewis until after Trooper Day's canine alerted to Woods' vehicle. The canine's alert for drugs effectively caused the traffic stop to be extended.

{¶20} Finally, the State addressed Woods' assertion that statements made by him and his passengers should be excluded. The State pointed out that after Trooper Day's canine detected drugs on the vehicle Woods was driving, Trooper Lewis advised Woods,...