State v. Barry
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of tampering with evidence for concealing heroin within a body cavity. The court of appeals affirmed Defendant’s tampering conviction, concluding that at the time Defendant concealed the heroin in her body cavity, Defendant had constructive knowledge of an impending investigation. At issue on appeal was whether a person who hides evidence of a crime that is unmistakable to him or her commits tampering with evidence in the absence of evidence that a victim or the public would report a crime. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) Ohio law does not impute constructive knowledge of an impending investigation based solely on the commission of an offense, and therefore, the fact that an act was unmistakably a crime does not in itself establish that the defendant knew of an investigation into that crime or that such an investigation was likely to be instituted; and (2) in this case, Defendant’s tampering conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence because there was no evidence that, at the time she concealed the heroin in her body, Defendant knew or could have known that a state trooper would stop her car and begin an investigation of her for drug trafficking and drug possession.
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