State v. Norris, Unpublished Decision (3-23-2005)
State v. Norris, Unpublished Decision (3-23-2005)
Opinion of the Court
In a single assignment of error, defendant-appellant Garrison Norris, Jr., challenges the overruling of his motion to suppress evidence consisting of ammunition and shell casings seized from his bedroom and the confession he made to police investigators. After being advised of his Miranda rights, Norris admitted firing a borrowed handgun at a Queen City Metro bus stopped near his apartment building. One of the gunshots struck a bus passenger. Norris claims that the police lacked probable cause to arrest him and thus the seized evidence and his confession should be suppressed.
Norris, a 16-year-old juvenile at the time the offense was committed, was bound over to the grand jury and was indicted on four counts of felonious assault with gun specifications and one count of disrupting public service. After the trial court denied the motion to suppress, Norris entered a no-contest plea. The trial court found him guilty of all counts and of the merged three-year gun specifications. It imposed an aggregate sentence of five years' incarceration plus five years of community control and ordered that restitution be paid to the victims.
Norris asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because police detectives had lacked probable cause to arrest him for the offenses when, reacting to an anonymous tip that identified Norris as the shooter, the detectives arrived at his parents' apartment. The detectives admitted that they had lacked probable cause to arrest Norris but said that they had merely sought to speak to him.
Police do not need a warrant, probable cause, or even a reasonable, articulable suspicion to conduct a search when a suspect voluntarily consents to the search. See Schneckloth v. Bustamonte (1973),
The disputed testimony at the hearing revealed that Norris's father had admitted the detectives to his apartment, had permitted them to take Norris to the police station for questioning, and had assisted officers in their search of his son's bedroom. A parent who controls the premises where a child resides may consent to a search of the premises although the search may produce incriminating evidence against the child. SeeState v. Chapman (1994),
Moreover, the record of the suppression hearing reveals ample evidence to support the conclusion that Norris and his parents voluntarily consented to questioning by police at the District Three station. Before being placed in a police car, Norris was read his Miranda rights, and his father was permitted to speak with him. See Miranda v. Arizona (1966),
Therefore, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Further, a certified copy of this Judgment Entry shall constitute the mandate, which shall be sent to the trial court under App.R. 27. Costs shall be taxed under App.R. 24.
Doan, P.J., Hildebrandt and Gorman, JJ.
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