State v. Duffield

109 N.E.3d 724, 2018 Ohio 1220
CourtCourt of Appeals of Ohio, Ninth District, Summit County
DecidedMarch 30, 2018
DocketNo. 28615
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 109 N.E.3d 724 (State v. Duffield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Ohio, Ninth District, Summit County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Duffield, 109 N.E.3d 724, 2018 Ohio 1220 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2018).

Opinion

HENSAL, Judge.

{¶ 1} David A. Duffield appeals a judgment of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas that convicted and sentenced him for felonious assault, grand theft, and obstructing official business. For the following reasons, this Court affirms.

I.

{¶ 2} According to Detective Ronald Kennedy, he and his partner responded to a request for backup from officers who were in a foot chase with Mr. Duffield. Detective Kennedy and his partner drove to the area and parked their cruiser, but later moved it to a dead end street after an officer spotted Mr. Duffield on that street. After more searching, Detective Kennedy was returning to his cruiser from the yard of a residence that was down the street from the back of the cruiser when he saw Mr. Duffield near the front of the cruiser.

*726He pointed his firearm at Mr. Duffield, ordered him to get on the ground, and began moving toward him. Mr. Duffield, instead, ran to the passenger side door and attempted to enter the cruiser. Finding the door locked, he ran around to the driver side door. By then Detective Kennedy had reached the sidewalk, so when Mr. Duffield ran to the driver side the detective decided to cut across the road behind the rear of the cruiser.

{¶ 3} When Mr. Duffield reached the driver side door, he opened it and got in the cruiser. According to Detective Kennedy, before getting in, Mr. Duffield looked at him and made eye contact. The detective said that, at the time, he was ten feet behind the cruiser, still cutting across the road behind the rear of it. Detective Kennedy testified that the next thing he knew, the cruiser's lights came on and it began backing up toward him, so he shot at Mr. Duffield, trying to get him to stop. The detective was able to move out of the way of the cruiser, but he continued shooting at Mr. Duffield as it moved alongside him because he did not want to end up directly in front of it. One of the bullets hit Mr. Duffield in the back, causing the cruiser to go over the opposite curb and come to rest on top of a fire hydrant.

{¶ 4} The Grand Jury indicted Mr. Duffield for felonious assault, grand theft, and obstruction of official business. A jury found him guilty of the offenses. The trial court merged them for sentencing purposes and sentenced Mr. Duffield to four years imprisonment. Mr. Duffield has appealed, assigning three errors. We will consider the first two together because Mr. Duffield has argued them that way in his appellate brief.

II.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED WAS INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT A CONVICTION FOR FELONIOUS ASSAULT.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR II

MR. DUFFIELD'S CONVICTION FOR FELONIOUS ASSAULT WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

{¶ 5} Mr. Duffield argues that his felonious assault conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence and was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Whether a conviction is supported by sufficient evidence is a question of law, which we review de novo. State v. Thompkins , 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 386, 678 N.E.2d 541 (1997). In making this determination, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution:

An appellate court's function when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, would convince the average mind of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 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.

State v. Jenks , 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492 (1991), paragraph two of the syllabus.

{¶ 6} If a defendant asserts that a conviction is against the manifest weight of the evidence,

an appellate court must review the entire record, weigh the evidence and all reasonable inferences, consider the credibility *727of witnesses and determine 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.

State v. Otten , 33 Ohio App.3d 339, 340, 515 N.E.2d 1009 (9th Dist.1986). Weight of the evidence pertains to the greater amount of credible evidence produced in a trial to support one side over the other side. Thompkins at 387, 678 N.E.2d 541. An appellate court should only exercise its power to reverse a judgment as against the manifest weight of the evidence in exceptional cases. State v. Carson , 2013-Ohio-5785, 6 N.E.3d 649, ¶ 32, citing Otten at 340, 515 N.E.2d 1009.

{¶ 7} Revised Code Section 2903.11(A)(2) provides that "[n]o person shall knowingly * * * [c]ause or attempt to cause physical harm to another * * * by means of a deadly weapon * * *." Mr. Duffield argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him under that section because, although the evidence may have been sufficient to establish that he acted recklessly when he drove the cruiser toward Detective Kennedy, there was no evidence that he acted knowingly. "A person acts knowingly, regardless of purpose, when the person is aware that the person's conduct will probably cause a certain result or will probably be of a certain nature. A person has knowledge of circumstances when the person is aware that such circumstances probably exist." R.C. 2901.22(B). Recognizing that establishing someone's mental state is "often difficult to prove directly," the Ohio Supreme Court has held that it can "be inferred from the surrounding circumstances." State v. Logan , 60 Ohio St.2d 126

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
109 N.E.3d 724, 2018 Ohio 1220, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-duffield-ohctapp9summit-2018.