State v. Davis

528 N.E.2d 925, 38 Ohio St. 3d 361, 1988 Ohio LEXIS 299
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 14, 1988
DocketNo. 86-1171
StatusPublished
Cited by151 cases

This text of 528 N.E.2d 925 (State v. Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Davis, 528 N.E.2d 925, 38 Ohio St. 3d 361, 1988 Ohio LEXIS 299 (Ohio 1988).

Opinions

Locher, J.

This court is confronted today by issues concerning the conviction and death sentence of appellant. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals with regard to appellant’s conviction, but reverse the judgment of the court of appeals as to appellant’s death sentence.

I

We begin our analysis by considering appellant’s propositions of law which challenge the validity of his conviction for aggravated murder.

As noted above, appellant was charged with aggravated murder with the specification that prior to the instant offense, appellant was convicted of an offense an essential element of which was the purposeful killing of or attempt to kill another. Appellant was further charged in the second count with having weapons while under a disability. Appellant maintains that the trial court erred in refusing to sever the two charges contained in the indictment. It is also appellant’s contention that the refusal to sever the two charges deprived him of his right to a jury trial because such a decision “forced” him to choose a hearing by a three-judge panel.

R.C. 2929.022(A) provides:

“If an indictment or count in an indictment charging a defendant with aggravated murder contains a specification of the aggravating circumstance of a prior conviction listed in division (A)(5) of section 2929.04 of the Revised Code, the defendant may elect to have the panel of three judges, if he waives trial by jury, or the trial judge, if he is tried by jury, determine the existence of that aggravating circumstance at the sentencing hearing held pursuant to divisions (C) and (D) of section 2929.03 of the Revised Code.”

Prior to trial, appellant elected to have the trial judge determine the existence of the aggravating circumstance set forth in the specification pursuant to R.C. 2929.022(A). At the same time, appellant reiterated his earlier motion to sever the counts of the indictment. Following the trial court’s decision to deny the motion to sever, appellant waived his right to a jury trial and elected to have a three-judge panel hear his case. Appellant claims that he was forced to waive the jury trial because, as a result of the denial of the motion to sever, a jury would be informed of his prior commission of a homicide throughout the trial.6 Thus, appellant concluded that the jury’s knowledge of such evidence [364]*364would be extremely damaging and prejudicial.

Crim. R. 8(A) permits joinder of separate offenses only where the offenses charged “are of the same or similar character, or are based on the same act or transaction, or are based on two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or plan, or are part of a course of criminal conduct.” Clearly, the evidence of record in this action reveals that the crimes charged in the indictment arose from the same act or transaction.

“A defendant claiming error in the trial court’s refusal to allow separate trials of multiple charges has the burden, of affirmatively showing that his rights were prejudiced.” State v. Torres (1981), 66 Ohio St. 2d 340, 343, 20 O.O. 3d 313, 315, 421 N.E. 2d 1288, 1290; State v. Roberts (1980), 62 Ohio St. 2d 170, 175, 16 O.O. 3d 201, 204, 405 N.E. 2d 247, 251-252. See, also, State v. Martin (1985), 19 Ohio St. 3d 122, 127, 19 OBR 330, 334, 483 N.E. 2d 1157, 1162, certiorari denied (1986), 474 U.S. 1073. Appellant essentially argues that the trial court’s refusal to sever the charges abridged his right under R.C. 2929.022(A) to elect to have evidence of the prior purposeful killing considered solely at a sentencing hearing. Ohio’s statutory framework for imposition of capital punishment directs that aggravating circumstances be determined at the guilt phase. Evidence pertaining to prior purposeful killings, not otherwise admissible, is admissible at the trial to prove the aggravating circumstance contained in R.C. 2929.04(A)(5). Nevertheless, when an R.C. 2929.022 (A) election is made, evidence concerning a prior purposeful killing, not otherwise admissible, may not be introduced at the guilt phase to prove an aggravating circumstance. However, it is not the purpose of R.C. 2929.022(A) to provide a defendant with a blanket statutory right to preclude, at the guilt phase, the introduction of all evidence pertaining to prior purposeful killings which is otherwise admissible, i.e., the evidence necessary to prove the offense of having a weapon while under a disability.

Appellant’s further contention that he was “forced” into waiving his right to a jury trial because of the possibility that the jury would not follow a curative instruction raises a mere risk of prejudice that can be best described as speculative. This does not meet the requirement of affirmatively showing prejudice.7 A jury is believed capable of segregating the proof on multiple charges when the evidence as to each of the charges is uncomplicated. Torres, supra, at 343, 20 O.O. 3d at 315, 421 N.E. 2d at 1291. See, also, Spencer v. Texas (1967), 385 U.S. 554, 562.

Finally, a review of the record reveals no actual prejudice to the rights of appellant. The three-judge panel considered the evidence on each charge fairly and carefully. Moreover, the evidence of guilt is so overwhelming that it may be concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that any introduction of the prior convictions did not contribute to the finding of guilt. Therefore, this proposition of law is overruled.

In the next proposition of law challenging his conviction, appellant con[365]*365tends that the trial court erred in failing to allow him to inspect the grand jury transcript. Appellant filed a motion asking the trial court to dismiss the indictment and to allow him to inspect the grand jury transcript on the basis that the indictment against him was not based on probable cause and that it was founded on illegal and. incompetent evidence.

In State v. Greer (1981), 66 Ohio St. 2d 139, 20 O.O. 3d 157, 420 N.E. 2d 982, this court held in paragraph two of the syllabus that: “Grand jury proceedings are secret, and an accused is not entitled to inspect grand jury transcripts either before or during trial unless the ends of justice require it and there is a showing by the defense that a particularized need for disclosure exists which outweighs the need for secrecy.” A “particularized need” has been described as: “when the circumstances reveal a probability that the failure to provide the grand jury testimony will deny the defendant a fair trial * * *.” State v. Sellards (1985), 17 Ohio St. 3d 169, 173, 17 OBR 410, 413, 478 N.E. 2d 781, 785. Moreover, “the release of any such testimony for use prior to or during trial is within the discretion of the trial court.” Greer, supra, at paragraph one of the syllabus.

As recognized above, appellant’s motion to dismiss the indictment was premised on the argument that the indictment was not based on probable cause and was founded on illegal and incompetent evidence. The United States Supreme Court has held that: “The grand jury’s sources of information are widely drawn, and the validity of an indictment is not affected by the character of the evidence considered.

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Bluebook (online)
528 N.E.2d 925, 38 Ohio St. 3d 361, 1988 Ohio LEXIS 299, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-davis-ohio-1988.