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Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

FILED
Dec 29 2008, 8:37 am
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

CLERK

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: STEVE CARTER Attorney General of Indiana CYNTHIA L. PLOUGHE Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: QUINTON L. ELLIS Fort Wayne, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
STATE OF INDIANA, Appellant-Defendant, vs. ANTHONY J. COHEE, Appellee-Plaintiff. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

No. 02A03-0806-CR-310

APPEAL FROM THE ALLEN SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Kenneth R. Scheibenberger, Judge Cause No. 02D04-0707-FD-609

December 29, 2008 MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION BAILEY, Judge

Case Summary The State appeals the trial courts grant of Anthony J. Cohees ("Cohee") motion to suppress evidence found during execution of a search warrant. We affirm. Issue The State presents the sole issue of whether the trial court abused its discretion in granting Cohees motion to suppress. Facts and Procedural History In the morning of July 17, 2007, a confidential informant ("C.I.") contacted the Ft. Wayne Police Department ("F.W.P.D."). The F.W.P.D. had previously communicated with the C.I., but no arrests had been made based upon the C.I.s information. He/she told F.W.P.D. Detective Brian Martin ("Det. Martin") that a "brick" or kilogram of cocaine, stamped with an "H," could be found in a cooler at a car lot, either in one of the cars or in the mobile-home office. Appendix at 36 and Transcript I at 11. The C.I. also stated that Cohee possessed the cocaine. Conducting surveillance of the lot, Det. Martin saw Cohee exit the office and leave the lot in a vehicle with another person. In coordination with the investigation, officers in two police cars then stopped the car for a traffic infraction. Upon request, Cohee exited the vehicle. The officers asked Cohee to return to the car lot. He did so. Once back at the car lot, a canine team investigated the exteriors of the cars and the office. Canine Nemo showed interest in the rear of a vehicle and the northeast corner of the office, but he did not alert. Shortly after 2:00 p.m., a second canine team was then called to 2

investigate. Canine Justice positively alerted at the rear of the same vehicle and showed interest in the northeast corner of the office, but as with Nemo, did not alert at the office. A search of the vehicles trunk, as allowed by Cohee, revealed no contraband. Det. Martin then spoke again to the C.I., who stated that he/she last saw the cocaine in a cooler in the office. F.W.P.D. Sergeant Thomas Strausborger ("Sgt. Strausborger") spoke with Cohee during the investigation and described their conversation as follows: A: [Cohee] came back to the car lot . . . at which time I spoke with Mr. Cohee. Okay. Did you advise Mr. Cohee of his rights? At that point in time, we didnt have any criminal charges against him. So the answer is he was not advised of his rights? Not when I first engaged with him, but yes, eventually, I did advise him of his Miranda warning. Where did

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