State v. Chappell

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 2956

Syllabus

motion to suppress after he was indicted for improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. Undercover officers requested that a uniformed officer conduct a traffic stop of the appellee's vehicle for speeding and parking illegally. Upon arrival, the uniformed officer, whose overhead lights were activated, approached the driver, appellee, who was outside of the vehicle. The undercover officers also responded to the traffic stop one of them approached the vehicle itself, removed the passenger, and reported to other officers that there was a weapon in the vehicle. That undercover officer did not testify at the suppression hearing, and no description of the gun or photos of the interior of the vehicle depicting the presence of the weapon were presented by the State. The weapon also was not visible in the cruiser camera video, and the video of the search of the vehicle does not depict the removal of the firearm from the vehicle. Under these circumstances, the trial court found that the State failed to meet its burden to establish the plain view exception to the warrant requirement, because it relied on hearsay that was not supported by sufficient indicia of reliability. The trial court did not err in granting appellee's motion to suppress. The trial court was not required to accept the State's interpretation of the video evidence. Judgment affirmed. (Welbaum, J., dissenting.)