State v. Posey

In State v. Posey, 10th Dist. No 07AP-522, 2008 Ohio 3880, an unidentified woman hiding in a closet of her residence located at 739 Stambaugh Avenue in Columbus placed a 911 call requesting assistance: she informed the operator that an individual was in her home and forcing the others present inside her residence to strip off their clothes as part of a "robbery or a drug robbery of some kind." The woman identified the perpetrator by his street name, "Punter," whom she described as a black male, wearing a gray sweatshirt and white t-shirt. Columbus Police were dispatched to the scene within five minutes. The officer observed an individual that matched the description given in the radio dispatch walk out of the yard. While walking away from the residence, the defendant looked over his shoulder, keeping his eye on the officer who had responded. The officer stopped the defendant at gunpoint, and ordered him to put his hands on his head. The officer then holstered his weapon and conducted a pat-down search of the defendant's person, which revealed a pistol in his front waistband. As a result of this discovery, the defendant was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. Pursuant to a search incident to that arrest, the officer found a bag of crack cocaine in the defendant's pocket. The defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the search was not justified on the basis of an anonymous tip alone. The Tenth District, in rejecting the defendant's claim, stated, "A police officer need not always have personal knowledge of the specific facts justifying an investigative stop and may rely upon a police dispatch. U.S. v. Hensley (1985), 469 U.S. 221, 231, 105 S. Ct. 675, 83 L.Ed. 2d 604. The constitutionality of an investigative stop based on a police dispatch does not depend upon whether law enforcement officers relying upon the dispatch were aware of the specific facts that led to the dispatch. Id.; Maumee v. Weisner (1999), 87 Ohio St.3d 295, 297, 1999 Ohio 68, 720 N.E.2d 507. Rather, we look to whether those who issued the dispatch possessed reasonable suspicion. Hensley, at 231; Weisner, at 297." Posey, supra, at P11.