## Facts

- Stephen Sowry was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and was pat-down searched without contraband being found.
- Police transported Sowry, while under arrest, to the Miami County Jail for booking.
- At booking, an officer asked Sowry whether he had any drugs; Sowry answered “No.”
- During a more thorough booking search, officers found a baggie of marijuana in Sowry’s right front pants pocket.
- The State charged Sowry with knowingly conveying a drug of abuse onto the grounds of a detention facility under Ohio Rev. Code § 2921.36(A)(2).
- Sowry was convicted at trial and sentenced to one year in prison.
- Sowry moved for acquittal under Crim.R. 29, arguing the State failed to prove a voluntary act because his entry into the jail was compelled by arrest and transport; the trial court denied the motion.

## Issues

1. Whether evidence is sufficient to convict an arrestee of “knowingly convey[ing]” drugs onto detention-facility grounds under Ohio Rev. Code § 2921.36(A)(2) when the arrestee was involuntarily transported to the facility while possessing drugs.
2. Whether Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.21(A)’s voluntary-act requirement is satisfied by an arrestee’s knowing possession of contraband during compelled entry into a jail, including a false denial of having drugs at booking.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Ohio, Second District, reversed the conviction.
- The court held the State’s evidence was legally insufficient because Sowry’s “conveyance” into the jail was not a voluntary act under Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.21(A).
- The trial court erred by denying Sowry’s Crim.R. 29 motion for acquittal.
- The case was remanded with instructions to enter a judgment of acquittal on the § 2921.36(A)(2) charge.

## Legal Principles

- Ohio criminal liability requires both a culpable mental state and a voluntary act or omission; a guilty mind alone is insufficient. Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.21(A).
- For § 2921.36(A)(2), “knowingly convey[ing]” drugs onto detention-facility grounds requires proof of a voluntary act of conveyance, not merely knowing possession while being taken into custody.
- An arrestee’s involuntary presence in a detention facility due to police arrest and transport does not satisfy the voluntary-act component for conveying contraband into the facility.
- A suspect has no legal duty to incriminate himself by admitting possession of drugs during booking; a false denial does not supply the missing voluntary act of conveyance.

## Conclusion

Because Sowry was compelled by arrest and police transport to enter the jail, the State failed to prove a voluntary act of conveying marijuana into the detention facility as required for criminal liability, requiring reversal and an acquittal.


State v. Sowry, 803 N.E.2d 867 (Ohio Ct. App. 2004)