State v. Armstead

2021 Ohio 4000
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 10, 2021
DocketC-200417
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 2021 Ohio 4000 (State v. Armstead) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Armstead, 2021 Ohio 4000 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Armstead, 2021-Ohio-4000.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

STATE OF OHIO, : APPEAL NO. C-200417 TRIAL NO. C-19CRB-22585 Plaintiff-Appellee, :

vs. : O P I N I O N. VAN ARMSTEAD, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

Criminal Appeal From: Hamilton County Municipal Court

Judgment Appealed From Is: Affirmed

Date of Judgment Entry on Appeal: November 10, 2021

Joseph T. Deters, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and Keith Sauter, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Plaintiff-Appellee,

Raymond T. Faller, Hamilton County Public Defender, and Krista M. Gieske, Assistant Public Defender, for Defendant-Appellant. OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS

CROUSE, Judge.

{¶1} Following a jury trial, defendant-appellant Van Armstead was

convicted of voyeurism in violation of R.C. 2907.08(B). He has appealed, arguing in

three assignments of error that (1) the trial court erred in admitting other-acts

evidence in violation of Evid.R. 402, 403, and 404; (2) his conviction was based

upon insufficient evidence and against the manifest weight of the evidence; and (3)

the trial court erred by ordering the forfeiture of his cell phone.

{¶2} For the following reasons, we overrule all three assignments of error

and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Factual Background

{¶3} Michael Combs testified that on September 4, 2019, he was shopping

at Lowe’s Home Improvement Store in Springdale, Ohio, when he had to use the

restroom. He entered one of the stalls in the men’s restroom. He removed his pants

and underwear and sat down on the toilet. After a couple of minutes, he glanced

down and saw a cell phone underneath the partition between bathroom stalls. He

testified that the cell phone was “coming in and out” under the partition. He pulled

up his pants, exited from the stall, washed his hands, and exited from the restroom.

He notified a store employee who called the police.

{¶4} Springdale Police Officer Kellen Lyons responded to the scene. Video

from Lyons’s body camera was played at trial. Lyons and another officer entered the

restroom and confronted Armstead. Armstead initially denied any wrongdoing, but

then admitted that he took a video of Combs under the stall partition because Combs

2 OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS

was making “strange” noises. Upon further questioning, Armstead stated that

officers would find additional similar videos of other people on his phone.

{¶5} Armstead was arrested and a search warrant was obtained for his cell

phone. Lyons testified that he searched Armstead’s phone and discovered close to 30

videos of men surreptitiously recorded in restroom stalls. None of the videos

depicted Combs. The trial court permitted the state to play one of the videos as

representative of the nearly 30 videos recovered. The representative video is

approximately 18 seconds long. It showed Armstead place his phone under the

partition between bathroom stalls and secretly record video of a man sitting on the

toilet with his pants and underwear around his ankles. Lyons testified that the video

was representative of the other videos discovered on Armstead’s phone, except “there

were some other videos that showed the private parts more of some other

individuals.”

{¶6} The state also played video recordings of Armstead’s interrogation at

the police station. Armstead was repeatedly asked why he recorded Combs.

Armstead was either silent or said that he didn’t know why or couldn’t explain why.

He stated that the videos were like videos he had seen on Twitter, but he denied

posting the videos he recorded on Twitter. He admitted that he recorded the videos

to watch them, but denied masturbating to the videos. When asked whether he got

pleasure or gratification out of the videos, he responded, “Just watching it I guess.”

{¶7} For ease of discussion, we address Armstead’s assignments of error out

of order.

3 OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS

Second Assignment of Error

{¶8} In his second assignment of error, Armstead contends that his

conviction was based upon insufficient evidence and against the manifest weight of

the evidence.

{¶9} The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether

“after viewing the probative evidence and inferences reasonably drawn therefrom in

the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found

all the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. Scott,

1st Dist. Hamilton Nos. C-200385 and C-200403, 2021-Ohio-3427, ¶ 23, quoting

State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172, 175, 485 N.E.2d 717 (1st Dist.1983). It is a

question of law for the court to determine, the court is not to weigh the evidence.

Scott at ¶ 23. “When evidence is susceptible to more than one construction, a

reviewing court must give it the interpretation that is consistent with the judgment.”

Id., quoting In re J.C., 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-180493, 2019-Ohio-4027, ¶ 20.

{¶10} R.C. 2907.08(B) states, “No person, for the purpose of sexually

arousing or gratifying the person’s self, shall commit trespass or otherwise

surreptitiously invade the privacy of another to videotape, film, photograph, or

otherwise record the other person in a state of nudity.”

{¶11} Armstead admits that he filmed Combs, but argues that the state failed

to prove that he did so for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification.

{¶12} There is no direct evidence that Armstead filmed Combs for the

purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. But the elements of a crime may be proven

by circumstantial evidence.

4 OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS

Circumstantial evidence and direct evidence inherently possess the same

probative value and therefore should be subjected to the same standard of

proof. When the state relies on circumstantial evidence to prove an

essential element of the offense charged, there is no need for such

evidence to be irreconcilable with any reasonable theory of innocence in

order to support a conviction.

State v. Lowery, 160 Ohio App.3d 138, 2005-Ohio-1181, 826 N.E.2d 340, ¶ 19 (1st

Dist.), quoting State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492 (1991), paragraph

one of the syllabus.

{¶13} Circumstantial evidence is “ ‘proof of facts or circumstances by direct

evidence from which [the factfinder] may reasonably infer other related or connected

facts that naturally flow according to the common experience of people.’ ” State v.

Barnthouse, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-180286, 2019-Ohio-5209, ¶ 16, quoting State

v. Shabazz, 145 Ohio St.3d 404, 2016-Ohio-1055, 57 N.E.3d 1119, ¶ 18, quoting Ohio

Jury Instructions, CR Section 409.01(4) (Rev. Aug. 17, 2011). “[W]hen we delve into

questions of intent, circumstantial evidence is often all that we have.” Barnthouse at

¶ 16.

{¶14} Courts have held that the sexual arousal or gratification element “ ‘may

be inferred when there is no innocent, i.e., nonsexual, explanation for the offender’s

conduct.’ ” Cleveland v. Imrie, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 109226, 2021-Ohio-308, ¶ 15,

citing State v. Goldblum, 2d Dist. Montgomery No.

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2021 Ohio 4000, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-armstead-ohioctapp-2021.