OH10: Defendant’s own actions corroborated CI

The officer got a CI’s tip that defendant was seen by him in possession of cocaine. Defendant was sitting in his truck and was acting like he was hiding something. The officer talked to defendant sitting in his truck, and the defendant became nervous and then upset when asked about drugs. This corroborated the CI. State v. Coger, 2011 Ohio 54, 2011 Ohio App. LEXIS 36 (10th Dist. January 11, 2011).*

Defendant had not been Mirandized when he was arrested, and the officer asked him whether there was anything in his room that the officer should know about, and he consented to a search without being asked. The search was valid by consent. Cadoree v. State, 331 S.W.3d 514 (Tex. App. – Houston (14th Dist.) 2011).*

Under a Franks claim, an officer is not required to conduct a complete investigation of the alleged crime under investigation before seeking a search warrant. The statement that the property in question did not appear to have a business justifying the high electrical usage was not recklessly made. United States v. Thoms, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2853 (D. Alaska January 11, 2011)*:

Alternatively, Thoms argues that, assuming the truth of Investigator Young’s statement that there was nothing visible at the residence that would suggest it being used for business purposes to justify the higher electrical rate, nevertheless, Young’s statement was misleading. “Franks protects against omissions that are designed to mislead, or that are made in reckless disregard of whether they would mislead, the [issuing judge].” Colkley, 899 F.2d at 301 (italics in original).

The statement on its face is not misleading. The fact that a subsequent administrative subpoena(s) to MEA disclosed that there were four electrical accounts associated with the property and that three of those accounts were in the names of businesses does not render Young’s statement incorrect or misleading.

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