Opinion
23AP-98
12-05-2023
State of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ivan E. Torres-Mesa, Defendant-Appellant.
On brief: G. Gary Tyack, Prosecuting Attorney, and Paula M. Sawyers, for appellee. Argued: Paula M. Sawyers. On brief: Beck Peistrup, LTD, and Robert James Beck, Jr., for appellant. Argued: Robert James Beck, Jr.
APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas (C.P.C. No. 22CR-6172)
On brief: G. Gary Tyack, Prosecuting Attorney, and Paula M. Sawyers, for appellee. Argued: Paula M. Sawyers.
On brief: Beck Peistrup, LTD, and Robert James Beck, Jr., for appellant. Argued: Robert James Beck, Jr.
DECISION
LUPER SCHUSTER, J.
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Ivan E. Torres-Mesa, appeals from a decision and entry of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas ordering Ivan to be held without bond pursuant to R.C. 2937.222. For the following reasons, we affirm.
I. Facts and Procedural History
{¶ 2} On December 30, 2022, plaintiff-appellee, State of Ohio, issued a 39-count indictment charging Ivan and two co-defendants, Raymundo Martinez-Mesa and Jessica L. Delacruz Toscana, with felony drug trafficking, drug possession, and illegal manufacture of drugs. The indictment charged each of the three co-defendants with the same 13 offenses: six counts of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, in violation of R.C. 2925.03, first-degree felonies; six counts of possession of a fentanyl-related compound, in violation of R.C. 2925.11, first-degree felonies; and one count of illegal manufacture of drugs, in violation of R.C. 2925.04, a second-degree felony. Each of the possession and trafficking charges contained accompanying firearm specifications and six of those counts additionally contained accompanying major drug offender specifications.
{¶ 3} Prior to Ivan's arraignment, the state filed a motion to hold Ivan without bail or bond pursuant to R.C. 2937.222. The trial court then conducted Ivan's arraignment on January 6, 2023, during which Ivan entered a plea of not guilty to all 13 counts. The trial court ordered Ivan held without bail pending a hearing on the state's motion to hold Ivan without bail or bond.
{¶ 4} On January 12, 2023, the trial court held a combined denial of bail or bond hearing for Ivan, Jessica, and Raymundo. At the hearing, James Walker, a detective with the Columbus Division of Police assigned to the Organized Crime Investigation Task Force, testified he began investigating an individual named A.S. in June 2022 on suspicion of being a mid-level drug trafficker. Through physical and electronic surveillance of A.S., Detective Walker identified Raymundo, Jessica, and Ivan as persons of interest. In July 2022, officers observed A.S. conduct a meeting with Raymundo who, at the time, was operating a 2003 red Ford pickup truck.
{¶ 5} Surveillance of the red pickup truck with Raymundo in the driver's seat led detectives to a house at Flint Creek in Dublin where Raymundo parked the truck inside the garage. Detectives learned that Raymundo lived at the Flint Creek residence with Jessica, his girlfriend. Through their surveillance, detectives observed an individual make multiple trips to another residence at Laurel Pine in Dublin. Detectives determined Ivan lived at the Laurel Pine residence with another man, E.G.
{¶ 6} Further surveillance of both the Flint Creek and the Laurel Pine residences revealed additional vehicles that Detective Walker testified were used by Raymundo, Ivan, and Jessica: a gray Honda Civic, a GMC Z71, and a newer-model Ford F-150. Detectives affixed GPS tracking units to those vehicles and learned that the red older-model F-150 truck had made trips to Mexico, then California, and then back to Columbus. Detectives eventually removed the GPS tracking units for fear the units would be detected or compromised. Additionally, detectives ceased their physical surveillance of the Flint Creek and Laurel Pine residences.
{¶ 7} Although detectives had ceased their surveillance of the residences, they entered the older-model F-150 into a national deconfliction database that logs and tracks information on investigations occurring throughout the country. The database yielded a "deconfliction hit" for the red older-model F-150 in which Utah police officers reported they had stopped, searched, and seized the truck and recovered 49 kilograms of cocaine from "surreptitious containers" inside the truck. (Tr. at 19-20.) Detective Walker testified that E.G., the man detectives believed was living with Ivan, was driving the truck in Utah when it was stopped.
{¶ 8} Following the deconfliction hit, detectives attempted to resume their physical surveillance of the Flint Creek and Laurel Pine residences. However, when detectives returned in July 2022, the three co-defendants no longer occupied either of these residences.
{¶ 9} Detective Walker testified the surveillance operation then switched to physical surveillance of wire-remitting locations in Columbus. This approach led to detectives observing Jessica driving the same Honda Civic previously associated with the group. Detectives followed Jessica to an apartment located at Rosslare Harbour Drive and subsequently observed both Raymundo and Ivan at that location. Detective Walker testified that Jessica, Raymundo, and Ivan were all living together at the Rosslare Harbour location. In mid-December 2022, detectives then resumed GPS surveillance of the vehicles associated with the three co-defendants: the newer-model Ford F-150, a gray Honda Civic, and a gray Honda Accord.
{¶ 10} The physical and electronic surveillance led detectives to a self-storage facility in Fairfield County. Detectives observed Ivan driving the Honda Civic to the storage facility, and the GPS location indicated the vehicle was stopped "for a period of minutes" in front of Unit 4281. (Tr. at 24.) On different days of surveillance, Detective Walker said officers observed Jessica and Ivan going into Unit 5021, which Detective Walker described as a "shield unit" used to store legitimate items. (Tr. at 24.) Subsequently, Detective Walker said his team observed Jessica and Raymundo's vehicle parked in front of Unit 4281. Video surveillance then showed Raymundo exiting the unit and appearing to lock it. Detectives determined Jessica was paying for both storage units.
{¶ 11} On September 20, 2022, Detective Walker obtained search warrants for both storage units and for the Rosslare Harbour apartment. Inside Unit 5021, officers found one rifle. Inside Unit 4281, officers found 18 kilograms of fentanyl, approximately 20,000 compressed fentanyl pills, and "numerous" assault-style rifles and large high-capacity magazines and ammunition. (Tr. at 26.) Officers also found magazines that could not be matched to the firearms inside the storage units. The total value of the amount of drugs seized from the storage unit was "well into the tens of millions of dollars." (Tr. at 34.) Additionally, Unit 4281 contained two jet skis that officers later learned were used to store and traffic bulk narcotics. Detective Walker said those jet skis had previously been observed at the Laurel Pine residence. Detectives also collected numerous cell phones wrapped in tinfoil from Unit 4281.
{¶ 12} The search of the Rosslare Harbour apartment yielded "numerous fraudulent documents," including passports and identification cards. (Tr. at 29.) These fraudulent documents contained pictures of Jessica, Raymundo, and Ivan but used different names for each of them. Detectives also recovered "numerous firearms" from what they believed to be Jessica and Raymundo's room, and they collected additional cell phones and documents related to the red older-model truck seized in Utah from this residence. (Tr. at 29.)
{¶ 13} Subsequent examination of the cell phones officers recovered from execution of the search warrant revealed "numerous videos and photos" that Detective Walker testified showed Jessica, Raymundo, and Ivan "either facilitating bulk -- or drug deals with bulk quantities of narcotics, in addition to videos displaying the counting of bulk narcotics." (Tr. at 31.) Detective Walker testified 28 phones were recovered from the investigation and, at the time of the bond hearing, officers had been able to go through 24 of the phones. Of those 24 phones, Detective Walker said 15 of the phones contain "some sort of nexus to drug trafficking or smuggling," and he further testified that through these 15 phones, there was evidence connecting all three of the co-defendants to drug trafficking. (Tr. at 32.) Officers were also able to use the phones to learn how money would be remitted to the Sinaloa area of Mexico, and detectives gathered intelligence indicating Jessica was a member or an associate of the Sinaloa cartel.
{¶ 14} Detective Walker further testified the different colors of the pills and powders recovered in the storage unit can correlate to manufactures coloring their pills in a way to mimic a legitimate prescription narcotic pill. He further testified the cell phone videos revealed an "alarming number" of firearms that the three co-defendants used that were not recovered in the storage units and that detectives believe are still in Franklin County. (Tr. at 38.) Detective Walker described the types of weapons seen in the content from the seized cell phones, stating "there are handguns with Glock switches -- this is a switch in order to make it a fully automatic handgun -- in addition to short-barrel rifles, 40-millimeter grenade launchers, in addition to RPG weapons systems." (Tr. at 38.) Based on the amount of currency Detective Walker saw moving on the cell phones, he testified he "[a]bsolutely" had reason to believe the three co-defendants have access to additional currency that could facilitate flight from the United States if they were released on bond. (Tr. at 41.)
{¶ 15} At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court denied Ivan, Jessica, and Raymundo bail while awaiting trial pursuant to R.C. 2937.222. Specifically, the trial court found the state had demonstrated, by clear and convincing evidence, that the proof is evident or the presumption great that the three accused committed at least some of the offenses, that all three co-defendants pose a danger to the community, and that no release conditions would reasonably assure the safety of the public from the danger posed by Ivan, Jessica, and Raymundo if they were released on bond. The trial court journalized its decision in a January 13, 2023 decision and entry. Ivan timely appeals.
II. Assignment of Error
{¶ 16} Ivan assigns the following sole assignment of error for our review: The trial court did err by ordering [Ivan] held without bond.
III. Discussion
{¶ 17} In his sole assignment of error, Ivan argues the trial court erred when it ordered him to be held without bond while awaiting trial. More specifically, Ivan asserts there was not clear and convincing evidence in the record to support the trial court's determination that, pursuant to R.C. 2937.222, Ivan is not entitled to bail or bond.
{¶ 18} An appellate court reviews a trial court's decision on a denial of bail pursuant to R.C. 2937.222 for an abuse of discretion. State v. Justice, 10th Dist. No. 22AP-234, 2023-Ohio-435, ¶ 11, citing State v. De La Cruz, 10th Dist. No. 21AP-516, 2022-Ohio-4293, ¶ 10, citing State v. Henderson, 10th Dist. No. 16AP-870, 2017-Ohio-2678, ¶ 5. See also State v. Foster, 10th Dist. No. 08AP-523, 2008-Ohio-3525, ¶ 6 ("the trial court's order [denying bail under R.C. 2937.222] will not be reversed absent a showing that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that the prosecution had met its burden of proof to show that appellant should be denied bail").