[Cite as State v. Boayue, 2020-Ohio-549.] IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO TENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT State of Ohio, : Plaintiff-Appellant, : No. 18AP-972 v. : (C.P.C. No. 17CR-5018) Irnatine W. Boayue, : (REGULAR CALENDAR) Defendant-Appellee. : D E C I S I O N Rendered on February 18, 2020 On brief: Ron O'Brien, Prosecuting Attorney, and Seth L. Gilbert, for appellant. Argued: Seth L. Gilbert. On brief: Robert E. Cesner, Jr., for appellee. Argued: Robert E. Cesner, Jr. APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas BEATTY BLUNT, J. {¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, State of Ohio, appeals the order of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granting defendant-appellee, Irnatine W. Boayue's, motion to suppress the evidence obtained when she appeared before an investigator for the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office on June 20, 2017, after having received a subpoena to provide a handwriting exemplar to the Franklin County Grand Jury. {¶ 2} Boayue is a legal immigrant from Liberia who has lived in the United States since 1985 and in Columbus since 2003. She is a lawful permanent resident, has an Ohio driver's license, and has no past criminal record. In March 2017, Boayue was called by Bureau of Criminal Investigations ("BCI") Agent Jennifer Comisford, who wanted to discuss Boayue's Ohio voting history and her alleged signatures on a voter registration form dated August 12, 2011 and in a voter poll book dated November 6, 2012. Agent Comisford set up a meeting with Boayue, but a few days later Boayue called back and indicated she 2 No. 18AP-972 wanted to talk with an attorney before the meeting. Agent Comisford then began taping that telephone call, but nothing of substance was recorded. {¶ 3} As a result of Boayue's desire to speak with an attorney, Agent Comisford did not interview her in person. Instead, BCI referred the investigation to the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office, who obtained a grand jury subpoena for Boayue, which directed her to appear on June 29, 2017 to the Franklin County Grand Jury Office to provide a handwriting exemplar. Prosecutor's Office Investigator Mike Scheerer intended to compare that exemplar with Boayue's alleged signatures on the registration form in the voter poll book. But instead of appearing on June 29, Boayue contacted Scheerer directly on June 20, 2017, and she voluntarily appeared at the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office that same day to provide an exemplar. Accordingly, Scheerer did not intend to interview Boayue at that time, only to obtain a handwriting exemplar. When Boayue arrived at the prosecutor's office, Scheerer "walked her into our meeting room up there and we sat down and I told her she could take a seat wherever she wanted." (Nov. 14, 2018 Tr. at 20.) He shut the door but did not lock it. Scheerer did not threaten to arrest Boayue and never indicated she could be arrested. {¶ 4} At some point while she was there, Scheerer showed Boayue both the registration application and the voter poll book register. She then ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals