## Facts

- Cleveland Cargile was arrested in March 2007 on robbery charges.
- An officer conducted pat-down searches at the scene and before placing Cargile in the police car, finding no contraband.
- Before entering a detention facility for processing, the officer twice warned Cargile to disclose drugs or weapons because bringing them into the jail could result in a felony charge; Cargile denied having anything.
- During a subsequent search inside the facility, the officer noticed evasive leg movements and discovered marijuana hidden in the cuff of Cargile’s pants.
- Cargile was indicted for two counts of robbery and one count of illegal conveyance of prohibited items onto detention-facility grounds under Ohio Rev. Code § 2921.36(A)(2).
- A jury acquitted him of robbery but convicted him of illegal conveyance; the trial court imposed a two-year prison sentence.

## Issues

1. Whether an arrestee who is brought into a detention facility by police, while knowingly concealing drugs on his person, has “voluntarily conveyed” drugs onto detention-facility grounds under Ohio Rev. Code § 2921.36(A)(2).
2. Whether the involuntary nature of the arrestee’s transport and entry into the facility negates the voluntary-act requirement for criminal liability.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Ohio reversed the court of appeals and reinstated the conviction.
- The court held that knowingly concealing and retaining drugs on one’s person when entering a detention facility constitutes a voluntary act sufficient to satisfy Ohio Rev. Code § 2921.36(A)(2).
- The court rejected the view that because the defendant was taken to the jail under arrest, the “conveyance” was necessarily involuntary.

## Legal Principles

- Criminal liability generally requires conduct that includes a voluntary act (actus reus) and the requisite culpable mental state for specified elements.
- Ohio Rev. Code § 2921.36(A)(2) prohibits “knowingly” conveying drugs of abuse onto the grounds of a detention facility.
- “Convey” does not require that the defendant control or initiate entry into the facility; knowingly bringing contraband onto facility grounds by retaining it on one’s person satisfies the conveyance element.
- When an arrestee has an opportunity to disclose and surrender contraband, continued concealment and possession during entry into the facility constitutes the relevant voluntary conduct, even if physical movement into the facility is compelled.

## Conclusion

An arrestee who knowingly conceals and retains drugs on his person as he is taken into a detention facility commits a voluntary act of conveying contraband onto detention-facility grounds under Ohio Rev. Code § 2921.36(A)(2), notwithstanding that his entry into the facility occurred under arrest.


State v. Cargile, 123 Ohio St. 3d 343 (Ohio 2009)