State v. Demarco

2017 Ohio 8530
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided November 13, 2017·No. 2016-P-0041·Published

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Demarco, 2017-Ohio-8530.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT PORTAGE COUNTY, OHIO

STATE OF OHIO, : OPINION

Plaintiff-Appellee, :

CASE NO. 2016-P-0041

- vs - :

DAVID A. DEMARCO, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

Criminal Appeal from the Portage County Court of Common Pleas. Case No. 2015 CR 00381.

Judgment: Affirmed.

Victor V. Vigluicci, Portage County Prosecutor, and Kristina Reilly, Assistant Prosecutor, 241 South Chestnut Street, Ravenna, OH 44266 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).

Kimberly Anne Valenti, P.O. Box 1149, Hudson, OH 44236 (For Defendant-Appellant).

TIMOTHY P. CANNON, J.

{¶1} Appellant, David A. Demarco, appeals from the May 17, 2016 judgment of conviction entered by the Portage County Court of Common Pleas following a jury trial. The trial court’s judgment is affirmed. Procedural History

{¶2} On May 28, 2015, appellant was indicted by the Portage County Grand Jury on one count of Discharge of a Firearm on or Near a Prohibited Premises, a third-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2923.162(A)(3). The indictment alleged appellant discharged

a firearm “upon or over a public road or highway, and the violation created a substantial risk of physical harm to any person or caused serious physical harm to property.” The charge included a firearm specification under R.C. 2929.14 & R.C. 2941.145. Appellant was represented by counsel and entered a plea of not guilty.

{¶3} The trial court granted appellant’s motion for a competency and sanity evaluation. A hearing was held on September 21, 2015. The parties stipulated to the report that concluded appellant was competent to stand trial and was sane at the time of the offense.

{¶4} Trial counsel filed a motion to withdraw as counsel on September 28, 2015.

The trial court granted the motion and appointed new counsel to represent appellant because of his indigent status.

{¶5} Another hearing regarding appellant’s competency was held on January 15, 2016. Appellant refused to undergo another competency evaluation. The trial court indicated it would proceed pursuant to the prior determination that appellant was competent to stand trial and was sane at the time of the offense.

{¶6} A jury trial was held on February 9 and February 10, 2016. On February 9, 2016, appellant stated on the record that he wished to represent himself at trial; however, he refused to sign a waiver of counsel. Appellant represented himself on the first day of trial and had stand-by counsel. Appellant elected to have counsel take an active role in his representation on the second day of trial.

{¶7} A motion for acquittal was made pursuant to Crim.R. 29 both at the close of the state’s case and at the close of all the evidence. Both motions were denied by the trial court.

{¶8} Appellant was found guilty on Count 1 and guilty of the firearm specification.

The jury also found the state did prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that appellant created a substantial risk of physical harm to any person or caused serious physical harm to property.

{¶9} On May 16, 2016, appellant was sentenced to a term of two years in prison on Count 1 and three years in prison on the specification, to be served consecutive to each other. Appellant received a jail time credit of 363 days. He was also ordered to pay a fine and court costs. Appellant was represented by counsel at his sentencing hearing.

{¶10} On August 2, 2016, appellant filed a motion for leave to file a delayed appeal with a notice of appeal attached. This court granted the motion on September 26, 2016. Trial Testimony

{¶11} The jury heard the following testimony at trial.

{¶12} Ronald Ruggles testified for the state. Ronald testified that he lives at 3321 McClintocksburg Road, located in the city of Diamond, Ohio, which is in Portage County. Ronald affirmed that McClintocksburg Road is a “regular public roadway.” He lives there with his fiancé, Samantha Reese, and his two daughters. His daughter A.R. is 4 years old and his daughter L.R. is 2 months old.

{¶13} On the night of May 16, 2015, Ronald was awakened by what “sounded like something was falling off a shelf in [A.R.’s] room.”

{¶14} The next morning he noticed a hole in the siding of the house that led into A.R.’s room. When he and Samantha went into the room and pulled A.R.’s bed away from the wall, they discovered the hole went through the drywall, into the house, and into the box spring of A.R.’s bed. They called the police.

{¶15} Sergeant Harry Muir testified that he is employed with the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, and he is certified by the state of Ohio as a firearms instructor. He holds certifications in semi-automatic pistol, semi-automatic carbine, sub-machine gun, and shotgun.

{¶16} On May 17, 2015, he responded to the call at 3321 McClintocksburg Road with Deputy Burris. They were called for a report that a house had been shot with a bullet.

{¶17} They observed a small hole, about the size of the end of Sergeant Muir’s pinky finger, in the side of the house that went through the drywall in the baseboard trim and into the box spring of A.R.’s bed. Sergeant Muir cut open the cloth padding at the bottom side of the box spring, and recovered a bullet sitting in the cotton padding inside the box spring itself. The bullet measured .38 caliber.

{¶18} Samantha Reese testified that A.R. had been sleeping right above where the bullet went through the wall.

{¶19} To determine the trajectory of the bullet, the police used the bottom rod of a metal clothes hanger. Sergeant Muir testified: “When we put the rod through the - - through the outside hole and Deputy Burris confirmed that it had gone through the inside hole; however, it was a flat trajectory, meaning that it had been shot from relatively close range and the trajectory of the bullet was flat rather than a long arch, so it was essentially a straight shot.”

{¶20} Deputy Burris took a photo in the direction the rod was pointing. When he was shown that photograph, Sergeant Muir testified: “Yes, I am pictured. I’m standing beside the cruiser. * * * I had him line me up with the direction of the rod. So I had him -

- I had him direct me * * * where to stand, so we could show the direction of travel of the bullet.”

{¶21} After the officers determined that based on the trajectory, the bullet came from an area between the victims’ home and 3266 McClintocksburg Road, appellant’s home, they attempted to make contact with appellant. Although they did not make contact with appellant at that time, they took a photograph from appellant’s house in the direction of the victim’s house. When shown the photograph, Sergeant Muir testified: “That is a photograph taken from [appellant’s] driveway of me standing in the yard of the victim’s house. I was standing in line with the direction of the rod coming from the bullet hole.”

{¶22} Sergeant Muir testified that McClintocksburg Road is the roadway between the two residences. He described McClintocksburg Road as follows:

It’s a fairly - - it’s a rural area. The houses are separated by a good distance. McClintocksburg Road is a two-lane road. It actually - -

looking at this picture, McClintocksburg Road actually sits down a little bit from the level of the ground. It sits in a slight depression. But generally speaking, there’s open fields on the sides of the residence.

It’s just - - it’s a fairly open, rural area.

{¶23} Deputy Stephanie Yugovich, with the Portage County Sheriff’s Department, testified that on May 17, 2015, she was called to assist Deputy Burris at 3266 McClintocksburg Road, appellant’s residence.

{¶24} When she arrived, Deputy Burris was speaking with appellant in his garage.

When Deputy Burris asked appellant what happened the previous night, appellant explained that his wife asked him to retrieve the mail. When he was coming back inside and noticed someone trying to break in through his back door, he retrieved his gun and fired off a couple rounds into the ground.

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State v. Demarco, 2017 Ohio 8530 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017).

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