Traffic convictions upheld by appeals court

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The convictions of two persons involved in high-speed vehicular chases in Wood County have been upheld by the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals.
The appeals court affirmed the conviction of Shantyanna Dabney, of Michigan, who was arrested in August 2021 after a chase on I-75.
She initially pled guilty in Wood County Common Pleas Court to failure to comply with an order of a police officer and was sentenced to a 30-month prison term, but she contested the court enhancing the charge to a third degree felony after it found the offense “caused a substantial risk of serious physical harm to persons or property.”
Without a trial, prosecutors couldn’t prove the risk enhancement and she could only be found guilty of a first degree misdemeanor charge, Dabney argued. The appeals court disagreed.
Dabney was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by an Ohio Highway Patrol trooper for speeding. The driver was placed in the trooper’s patrol vehicle after bags of marijuana were found in the glove compartment. Dabney then moved into the driver’s seat and sped off.
According to court records, there was a 16-mile chase along I-75, State Routes 6 and 25, and Sand Ridge Road before troopers placed stop sticks in her path and she lost control and crashed into a guard rail. She then fled on foot and was apprehended in a ditch. Speeds reached almost 100 miles per hour, troopers testified.
Dabney was on felony parole in Michigan and violated her parole terms when she left the state.
In a separate case, Brandon M. Johnson, Toledo, appealed his conviction in common pleas court for eluding or fleeing a police officer, tampering with evidence, possession of heroin, and aggravated possession of heroin. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The charges stem from an Aug. 7, 2020 traffic stop on I-75 where troopers found drugs in Johnson’s vehicle after stopping him for following too closely to the vehicle in front of him.
Johnson pulled his vehicle over to the shoulder when a trooper initiated the stop but sped off when the trooper approached his vehicle on foot.
He was pulled over a second time after a chase that reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour during which he reportedly threw something out the passenger side window. Pills were found in the driver’s door and a pipe was found under the seat.
In his appeal, Johnson argued the initial stop and eventual search of his vehicle were conducted without “reasonable articulable suspicion or probable cause” and filed a motion to suppress evidence.
The appeals court upheld the trial court decision to deny his motion.
The appeals court wrote: “In this case, before the troopers conducted a search of Johnson’s vehicle, they knew the following information: Johnson fled from the initial traffic stop, after Johnson was arrested and Mirandized, he admitted to consuming and possessing Ecstasy pills – Johnson told (the trooper) that he had 14 pills, he ‘popped’ three pills two hours prior, he threw six single pills out the window, leaving about five pills in his vehicle – and dispatch had relayed to the officers that (a truck driver) reported seeing Johnson dispose of a black box during the high-speed chase. Additionally, (the trooper) testified that he smelled the fresh odor of burnt marijuana when he approached the vehicle.
“Taken together, these facts certainly provide enough basis for the officers to have a reasonable belief that there was contraband in Johnson’s vehicle.”