State v. Young, Unpublished Decision (4-27-2001)
State v. Young, Unpublished Decision (4-27-2001)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
On July 27, 2000, appellant was arrested and charged with aggravated burglary. The Licking County Grand Jury returned a three count indictment against appellant charging him with one count of aggravated burglary, one count of robbery and one count of possession of cocaine. On August 11, 2000, appellant filed a motion to suppress alleging that statements obtained from him were in violation of his Miranda rights and should therefore be suppressed. A suppression hearing was held on appellant's motion on August 28, 2000. By judgment entry filed September 1, 2000, the trial court denied appellant's motion to suppress. On October 9, 2000, appellant entered a plea of no contest to the charges and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for four years. On October 12, 2000, Appellant filed this appeal, assigning the following error:THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY DENYING APPELLANT'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS
Appellant maintains on appeal that he was in custody while being questioned by Detective Vanoy at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, and that he did not voluntarily, knowingly or intelligently waive his Miranda rights. When reviewing a trial court's decision to deny a motion to suppress evidence, we are guided by the Ohio Supreme Court's rulings in State v. Smith (1991),
Furthermore, appellant's girlfriend, who was present when the detectives arrived at the hospital, was not asked to leave, although she later did so on her own accord. (T. at 11). Appellant also received a number of telephone calls while Detective Vanoy was present, which he was allowed to complete. (T. at 13). Based upon the above set of facts surrounding appellant's questioning, we find that appellant was not in custody at the time of the interview and for purposes of Miranda warnings. Appellant was not formally restrained during his stay at the hospital. Following the interview, he remained at the hospital for treatment purposes. We find that a reasonable person in appellant's position would not believe that he was in custody.
The trial court properly denied appellant's motion to suppress. Appellant's assignment of error is overruled. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
___________ Boggins, J.
Gwin, P.J. and Hoffman, J. concur.
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