State v. Santos

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 1043

Syllabus

Appellant accompanied a detective to a police station for questioning as a potential witness to a double homicide, where he was interviewed in an unlocked conference room, without restraints. Appellant was only taken into custody after the interview because officers discovered an active warrant out of Greene County. A detective travelled to the Greene County Jail the next day to question appellant further in the homicide investigation. The trial court did not err in overruling, in part, appellant's motion to suppress his statements. Appellant was not in custody while questioned at the police station. Prior to the interview at the Greene County Jail, appellant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his rights. The trial court also did not err in overruling appellant's motion to dismiss a firearm specification attached to a tampering with evidence charge. The plain language of the applicable statutes permits additional punishment by means of a specification where a firearm was the object of the tampering charge. Judgment affirmed. (Donovan, J., concurring in judgment only.)