State v. Diaz

2025 Ohio 2924

• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals
• Decided: August 18, 2025
• Docket: 2024-L-077
• Status: Published

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Diaz, 2025-Ohio-2924.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT LAKE COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 2024-L-077

Plaintiff-Appellee, Criminal Appeal from the - vs - Court of Common Pleas

JULIO C. DIAZ, Trial Court No. 2024 CR 000356 Defendant-Appellant.

OPINION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY

Decided: August 18, 2025 Judgment: Affirmed

Charles E. Coulson, Lake County Prosecutor, and Kristi L. Winner, Assistant Prosecutor, Lake County Administration Building, 105 Main Street, P.O. Box 490, Painesville, OH 44077 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).

Mary Catherine Corrigan, 6555A Wilson Mills Boulevard, Suite 102, Mayfield Village, OH 44143 (For Defendant-Appellant).

MATT LYNCH, J.

{¶1} Appellant, Julio C. Diaz, appeals the judgment of the Lake County Court of

Common Pleas that sentenced him to an indefinite prison term of a minimum of five years

up to a maximum of seven and one-half years after a jury found him guilty of Complicity

to Burglary, Complicity to Breaking and Entering, and Complicity to Theft. He challenges

the sufficiency and the manifest weight of the evidence as it relates to the count of

Complicity to Burglary. For the following reasons, we affirm.

{¶2} In April 2024, a Lake County Grand Jury indicted Diaz on three counts:

Complicity to Burglary, a second-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2923.03(A)(1) and 2911.12(A)(2); Complicity to Breaking and Entering, a fifth-degree felony, in violation of

R.C. 2923.03(A)(1) and 2911.13(B); and Complicity to Theft, a fifth-degree felony, in

violation of R.C. 2923.03(A)(1) and 2913.02(A)(1).

{¶3} A four-day jury trial was held during which the State presented multiple

witnesses and evidence on the incident, the surrounding circumstances, and the ensuing

investigation.

{¶4} At around 4:30 p.m. on June 21, 2023, Rebecca Medvecky and Michael

Frimel were at their home and noticed two individuals in neon green work vests walking

by and entering the property across the street, which is located on Taft Street in Mentor,

Ohio. One of the men was carrying a black crate, and they were conversing. Medvecky

testified that it “didn’t appear as if they knew what they were going to be doing.” The men

proceeded to the back of the house where they were out of view.

{¶5} Since they appeared suspicious, Medvecky and Frimel texted the owners

of the property, Anthony Longhitano, III (“Longhitano”) and his wife Charlotte, and called

the police. While the men were in the back of the house, Medvecky and Frimel noticed a

little red car in the driveway. After a short time, the two men ran from the back of the

house—one carrying a garbage bag and the other, the black crate—and got into the

passenger side and the back seat of the car waiting in the driveway. The driver, possibly

a female, was not identified. Frimel, who was outside, photographed the men and the car

in the Longhitanos’ driveway. Medvecky had also taken several photographs from inside

her and Frimel’s home.

{¶6} Officers from the City of Mentor Police Department were dispatched to the

scene. In the back of the home they found a broken window, a marijuana cannister on

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Case No. 2024-L-077 the windowsill, and a crowbar on the ground. The Longhitanos’ son, Anthony, arrived

and ran into the house, indicating to the officers he was afraid for his dog’s safety. When

they entered the home, the officers noticed a strong odor of marijuana. They found a

large amount of drug indicators in the home, such as marijuana, marijuana packaging,

residue, scales, a money counter, mason jars, and a vacuum sealer. They contacted a

narcotics detective, Detective Ryan Butler, and a separate investigation was started for

the drugs found in the home. Longhitano arrived shortly after, identifying himself as the

homeowner. He gave the police a list of missing items that included jewelry and several

handguns. Longhitano, a former police officer, called a friend to investigate the license

plate of the red car. His friend identified the vehicle—a red Saturn Ion—the owner, and

the owner’s address in Cleveland, Ohio. Longhitano relayed the information to the police.

{¶7} Earlier in the day, the red Saturn had been observed by the City of Mentor

Chief of Police in Garfield Park in Mentor. He remembered the vehicle because it had

looked suspicious, and he had followed it from the park until it drove into the city of

Willoughby. After the burglary, the car was located in Cleveland, and the driver, Kenard

Toeran, who was wearing a fluorescent yellow work vest, was arrested. Kenard’s mother,

Kimona Thomas, called the police department and informed them that Kenard was not

the person who committed the crime. She identified the person who committed the

burglary as Tyrone Thomas (“Thomas”) and revealed there was evidence of the crime at

her house in Cleveland. At her home, officers found a grey Nike shoebox that had

approximately 50 THC oil cartridges, gel pens for the cartridges, other marijuana

products, and a brown rocky substance that was later identified as a synthetic

cannabinoid. Kimona, Kenard, and Thomas lived together and shared the red Saturn. A

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Case No. 2024-L-077 search of the vehicle revealed a garbage bag and empty mason jars, similar to those the

officers found in the Longhitanos’ home.

{¶8} During the course of their investigation, the officers discovered that the

crowbar found in the Longhitanos’ home, which had a UPC code on it, had been

purchased by Diaz at the Home Depot in Euclid on the day of the burglary. Diaz had

borrowed his girlfriend’s white Buick Encore, and he was caught on surveillance cameras

driving the vehicle and in the store. Diaz is a rapper who recorded a music video with

Anthony, who ran a music/video studio. The video was posted on one of Anthony’s

Instagram accounts. Diaz and Anthony also followed each other’s Instagram accounts.

{¶9} Photographs from Flock, a security system that provides the police with

license plate recognition photos and surveillance, identified the white Buick Encore in the

Mentor/Willoughby area several days preceding the burglary and on the day of the

burglary. On the day of the burglary, the Flock cameras captured the red Saturn following

the white Buick from Garfield Park. With the Buick leading, the vehicles traveled to

Anthony’s studio in Willoughby and then proceeded to Mentor in the direction of the

Longhitanos’ house. A home surveillance camera captured the Buick, with the Saturn

following ten seconds later, at 4:28 p.m. The 9-1-1 call by Medvecky was received at

4:48 p.m. One of the patrolmen, who was responding to the scene of the burglary

traveling northbound on Rt. 306 towards the Longhitano home, recorded the Buick on his

dash camera at 4:51 p.m. driving on Brownell Rd. towards Rt. 306. Taft Street is almost

directly across from Brownell Rd., on the east side of Rt. 306. The cell phone records of

Diaz and Thomas revealed that between 4:33 p.m. and 5:21 p.m. they had been calling

and texting each other. Detective Butler was doubtful the items Longhitano listed as

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Case No. 2024-L-077 missing were actually taken. He estimated that approximately $80,000 worth of marijuana

products were stolen in the heist.

{¶10} As relevant to this appeal, Medvecky explained the previous owners of the

home had passed away and left it to their son, Longhitano. She believed Longhitano’s

son Anthony was living there. She saw Anthony “quite frequently,” and while she did not

see him every day, she would see him “come and go” and “play with his dog outside.”

She observed Anthony leaving for work in the morning and returning in the evening, and

she saw him doing yard work on the weekends. Medvecky saw Anthony on the morning

of the break-in. Frimel similarly testified that he believed Anthony was living in the home.

He also saw Longhitano “on a fairly regular basis.” Detective Ryan Butler testified that

Longhitano told him in a police interview that no one lived in the home.

{¶11} Longhitano also testified to the occupancy of his home, explaining that

before his mother died, she had moved in with him, but she would still return to her home

and spend the night or the day there. After she died, either Longhitano, his wife, or

Anthony would spend an evening there or visit during the day. All three kept clothes in

the closets, one of the beds was made up, and the house was fully furnished. The house

was still in probate, the utilities were on, and the family did the house and yard work.

{¶12} The jury found Diaz guilty on all three counts. Count Three, Complicity to

Theft had been tried as a first-degree misdemeanor, in violation of R.C. 2923.03(A)(1)

and 2913.02(A)(1), instead of a fifth-degree felony as charged in the indictment. After a

presentence investigation, a sentencing hearing was held at which the court found the

counts merged for purposes of sentencing, and the State elected to proceed on Count

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Case No. 2024-L-077 One, Complicity to Burglary. The trial court sentenced Diaz to an indefinite prison term

of a minimum of five years up to a maximum of seven and one-half years.

{¶13} Diaz timely filed his appeal and raises two assignments of error:

{¶14} “[1.] The convictions cannot stand because they are against the manifest

weight of the evidence.

{¶15} “[2.] The evidence was not sufficient to establish the appellant’s guilt.”

{¶16} We address Diaz’s assignments of error together since they are

interrelated. See State v. Barnes, 2023-Ohio-353, ¶ 43 (11th Dist.) (“Since there must be

sufficient evidence to take a case to the jury, it follows that ‘a finding that a conviction is

supported by the weight of the evidence necessarily must include a finding of sufficiency.’”

(Citation omitted.)).

{¶17} In his first and second assignments of error, Diaz challenges the sufficiency

of the evidence and the manifest weight of the evidence as it relates to his conviction of

complicity to commit burglary. More specifically, he contends there was no evidence that

linked him to the crowbar, that he aided or abetted Thomas, or that the Longhitano home

was a permanent or temporary habitation.

{¶18} In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, “[c]ircumstantial evidence and

direct evidence inherently possess the same probative value[.]” State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio

St.3d 259 (1991), paragraph one of the syllabus. “The relevant inquiry is whether, after

viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact

could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Id. at paragraph two of the syllabus. Essentially, the court asks whether the evidence

against a defendant, if believed, supports the conviction. Id.

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Case No. 2024-L-077 {¶19} Whereas “sufficiency of the evidence is a test of adequacy as to whether

the evidence is legally sufficient to support a verdict as a matter of law . . . weight of the

evidence addresses the evidence’s effect of inducing belief.” State v. Wilson, 2007-Ohio-

2202, ¶ 25, citing State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 386-387(1997).

{¶20} In reviewing whether the conviction runs counter to the manifest weight of

the evidence, the appellate court sits as a “thirteenth juror.” Thompkins at 387. The court

reviews “‘the entire record, weighs the evidence and all reasonable inferences, considers

the credibility of witnesses and determines whether in resolving conflicts in the evidence,

the [trier of fact] clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice

that the conviction must be reversed and a new trial ordered.’” Id., quoting State v. Martin,

20 Ohio App.3d 172, 175 (1st Dist. 1983). We will reverse the trial court’s decision to

convict and grant a new trial only in “‘the exceptional case in which the evidence weighs

heavily against the conviction.’” Thompkins at 387, quoting Martin at 175.

{¶21} Fundamentally, “[t]he choice between credible witnesses and their

conflicting testimony rests solely with the finder of fact and an appellate court may not

substitute its own judgment for that of the finder of fact.” State v. Awan, 22 Ohio St.3d

120, 123 (1986). “A fact finder is free to believe all, some, or none of the testimony of

each witness appearing before it.” State v. Fetty, 2012-Ohio-6127, ¶ 58 (11th Dist.).

{¶22} Pursuant to R.C. 2923.03(A)(1), the State was required to introduce

evidence from which a trier of fact could conclude that Diaz, “acting with the kind of

culpability required for the commission” of burglary, “solicit[ed] or procure[d] another to

commit” burglary in violation of R.C. 2911.12(A)(2), which prohibits a person “by force,

stealth, or deception . . . [from trespassing] in an occupied structure or in a separately

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Case No. 2024-L-077 secured or separately occupied portion of an occupied structure that is a permanent or

temporary habitation of any person when any person other than an accomplice of the

offender is present or likely to be present, with purpose to commit in the habitation any

criminal offense[.]” A defendant who is complicit in the commission of an offense “is

prosecuted and punished as if he were a principal offender.” R.C. 2923.03(F). See State

v. Attia, 2021-Ohio-2890, ¶ 63 (11th Dist.).

{¶23} Diaz first contends there was no evidence connecting him to the crowbar

because no DNA evidence was found. However, the State introduced evidence from

Flock security cameras and Home Depot surveillance cameras that captured Diaz driving

to Home Depot and purchasing a crowbar that had the same unique UPC code as the

one found at the scene of the burglary. The receipt for the purchase identified Diaz as

the purchaser as well as the time and date of the purchase. Thus, there was more than

sufficient evidence from which the jury could connect Diaz to the crowbar.

{¶24} Diaz further contends there was no evidence that he solicited or procured

Thomas to commit the burglary. R.C. 2923.03 does not define the terms “solicit” or

“procure.” The trial court used the definitions set forth in the Ohio Jury Instructions, which

defines “solicit” as “to seek, to ask, to influence, to invite, to tempt, to lead on, to bring

pressure to bear” and “procure” as “to get, obtain, induce, bring about, motivate.” Ohio

Jury Instructions, CR Section 523.03(A) (Rev. Feb. 6, 2016). See also In re S.J.F., 2010-

Ohio-5514, ¶ 18 (11th Dist.); Attia at ¶ 64. In the context of complicity, the relevant

circumstances include the defendant’s conduct “‘“before and after the offense is

committed.”’” Attia at ¶ 70 (11th Dist.), quoting State v. Johnson, 93 Ohio St.3d 240, 245

(2001), quoting State v. Pruett, 28 Ohio App.2d 29, 34 (4th Dist. 1971). Further, the

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Case No. 2024-L-077 definitions of “solicit” and “procure” encompass more than an express request that the

principal offender perform a specific act. Id. at ¶ 97; see Johnson at 245 (“The fact that

defendant did not articulate his intent will not allow him to escape responsibility for his

clear actions of complicity . . .”).

{¶25} The State’s evidence and testimony revealed a connection between Diaz

and Anthony, and a connection between Diaz and Thomas. Diaz drove to meet Thomas

directly after Diaz purchased the crowbar. Their vehicles were captured on Flock

cameras, with Diaz leading Thomas to Anthony’s audio/visual studio and then in the

direction of the Longhitanos’ house. Cell phone records revealed Diaz and Thomas were

communicating with each other before, during, and after the burglary. Thus, there was

sufficient circumstantial evidence from which a jury could conclude that Diaz “solicited” or

“procured” Thomas and his accomplice to carry out the burglary. As this court noted in

State v. West, 2000 WL 1616802, (11th Dist. Oct. 27, 2000), a case appellant cites, in

which we affirmed the defendant’s conviction for complicity to commit burglary, “a person

is guilty of complicity to commit burglary if he acted with the same culpability required for

burglary and either aided or abetted another in the commission of the crime, or in the

alternative, conspired with another to commit the offense at issue.” Id. at *6. Similarly

here, there is more than sufficient circumstantial evidence of Diaz’s culpability before,

during, and after the incident to find he “solicited” or “procured” another to commit

burglary.

{¶26} Lastly, Diaz contends there was no evidence that the Longhitano home was

a permanent or temporary habitation. “The phrase ‘permanent or temporary habitation’

is not defined in the revised code for R.C. 2911.12(A)(2).” State v. Blenman, 2021-Ohio-

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Case No. 2024-L-077 3076, ¶ 15 (11th Dist.) “‘If a term is not defined in the Revised Code, then the common,

everyday meaning of the term governs.’” Id., quoting State v. Martin, 2016-Ohio-453, ¶

11 (12th Dist.), citing State v. White, 29 Ohio St.3d 39, 40 (1987). “As defined by Black’s

Law Dictionary, a ‘habitation’ is ‘[a] dwelling place; a domicile,’ and a domicile ‘requires

bodily presence plus an intention to make the place one’s home.’” Id.

{¶27} The State’s evidence revealed that the Longhitanos’ neighbors assumed

Anthony lived at the Longhitano home, and they saw him “frequently,” including on the

morning of the burglary. They regularly observed him doing yard work, playing with his

dog, leaving for work in the morning, and returning from work in the evening. Anthony’s

dog was inside the home when the burglary occurred. Longhitano testified that he, his

wife, and Anthony spent the night at the house occasionally; the whole family pitched in

with the yard work; and he paid for the bills associated with the house, including the

monthly utilities. We recognize Detective Butler testified that Longhitano stated in his

police interview that no one was permanently or temporarily residing in the home,

contradicting Longhitano’s testimony; however, the “[t]he choice between credible

witnesses and their conflicting testimony” is for the trier of fact. Awan, 22 Ohio St.3d at

123. Even if the jury found Longhitano was not a credible witness, there was sufficient

evidence from the neighbors’ testimony and the dog’s presence that the house was being

used as a permanent or, at the very least, a temporary habitation.

{¶28} In regard to the manifest weight of the evidence argument, we cannot

conclude the jury so lost its way or created a manifest miscarriage of justice based upon

the testimony and evidence presented at trial. The State carried its burden of production

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Case No. 2024-L-077 as to the sufficiency of the evidence, and the jury’s finding of guilt does not run counter to

the manifest weight of the evidence.

{¶29} Finding Diaz’s assignments of error to be without merit, we affirm the

judgment of the Lake County Court of Common Pleas.

ROBERT J. PATTON, P.J.,

JOHN J. EKLUND, J.,

concur.

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Case No. 2024-L-077 JUDGMENT ENTRY

For the reasons stated in the opinion of this court, appellant’s assignments of error

are without merit. It is the judgment and order of this court that the judgment of the Lake

County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.

Costs to be taxed against appellant.

JUDGE MATT LYNCH

PRESIDING JUDGE ROBERT J. PATTON, concurs

JUDGE JOHN J. EKLUND, concurs

THIS DOCUMENT CONSTITUTES A FINAL JUDGMENT ENTRY

A certified copy of this opinion and judgment entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Ohio Rules of Appellate Procedure.

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Case No. 2024-L-077