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2018 Ohio 591

State v. Howell

Ohio Court of Appeals

Decided February 16, 2018

Ohio Court of Appeals · decided 2018-02-16

AUTOS/CRIMINAL - CONSTITUTIONAL LAW/CRIMINAL - SEARCH AND SEIZURE - OVI: The trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress the unlawful stop of her car and all evidence gathered as a result of the unlawful stop where the arresting state trooper had erroneously determined that defendant had committed a violation of R.C. 4513.15(A)(1): the trooper's mistake of law was not reasonable where the statute unambiguously regulated the distribution of light to be used when a driver approaches an oncoming vehicle, and the trooper had testified that defendant had failed to dim her headlights while traveling on the interstate behind and in the same direction as the trooper. The totality of the circumstances surrounding the stop of defendant's vehicle did not provide a reasonable, articulable suspicion that defendant had committed, or was engaged in committing, a crime. [But see DISSENT: At the time of the traffic stop, the trooper possessed a reasonable, articulable suspicion that defendant was driving while impaired where he had witnessed her vehicle "bouncing" within the marked lane, she had failed to dim her headlights when she approached him from behind, she had failed to pass him on the interstate when he slowed to 55 m.p.h., and he testified that he "continued to follow her just to see if there were any other signs."]

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently February 2024

5 state decisions

Relies on Brigham City v. Stuart · City of Dayton v. Erickson

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 2018-02-16

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Miller, J., dissenting.

¶1{¶ 19} The trooper testified he initiated a traffic stop because of his mistake of law regarding the use of bright headlights. But the trooper's subjective mistake of that law is not dispositive of whether the stop was reasonable. "An action is 'reasonable' under the Fourth Amendment, regardless of the individual officer's state of mind, as long as the circumstances, viewed objectively , justify the action." (Citations omitted.) Brigham City, Utah v. Stuart , 547 U.S. 398, 404, 126 S.Ct. 1943, 164 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006) ; Dayton v. Erickson , 76 Ohio St.3d 3, 665 N.E.2d 1091 (1996) (if the traffic stop is objectively reasonable, the officer's subjective motive for making the stop is irrelevant); State v. Salvato , 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-980939, 1999 WL 636557 (Aug. 13, 1999) ("Whether probable cause to search existed depends on the objective factors articulated by the officer. If the search is objectively reasonable, the officer's stated reason or motive for the search is irrelevant."). Thus our focus should be whether the stop was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances.

¶2{¶ 20} The trooper also testified that the use of the high beams and the vehicle's bouncing within the marked lane "just raised suspicion." He also testified that he viewed her failure to pass him when he slowed to 55 m.p.h. as unusual. Once the trooper did get behind the vehicle, he "continued to follow her just to see if there were any other signs." He indicated these facts were part of the justification for asking the driver to perform a field-sobriety *342test, and for arresting her. The facts articulated by the trooper, in my mind, demonstrate that he subjectively possessed a reasonable articulable suspicion of impaired driving when he initiated the stop. And regardless of the trooper's thoughts, these facts objectively justify the stop, which is all the Fourth Amendment requires. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.

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