State v. Dunlap

2018 Ohio 3525
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 4, 2018
Docket17CA0063-M
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2018 Ohio 3525 (State v. Dunlap) 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. Dunlap, 2018 Ohio 3525 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Dunlap, 2018-Ohio-3525.]

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COUNTY OF MEDINA )

STATE OF OHIO C.A. No. 17CA0063-M

Appellee

v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT ENTERED IN THE ALISA DUNLAP MEDINA MUNICIPAL COURT COUNTY OF MEDINA, OHIO Appellant CASE No. 16 CRB 01261

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY

Dated: September 4, 2018

TEODOSIO, Judge.

{¶1} Appellant, Alisa Dunlap, appeals from her disorderly conduct convictions in the

Medina Municipal Court. This Court affirms.

I.

{¶2} Ms. Dunlap, her three daughters, and their dog entered a Motel 6 in Medina,

purportedly with an interest in renting a room for the night. Ms. Dunlap asked the clerk (“A.S.”)

if she could see a room before she decided whether to rent it. She provided her driver’s license

to A.S., and the clerk made her a card key for a nearby room. After a couple minutes, A.S. and a

resident of the motel (“R.A.”) went to check on Ms. Dunlap and her family because they had not

returned. One of Ms. Dunlap’s daughters was using the bathroom in the motel room, so A.S.

informed Ms. Dunlap that she now had to purchase the room, pursuant to motel policy. A

heated, verbal argument ensued and A.S. eventually told Ms. Dunlap to leave. The argument

continued as the parties moved from the motel room back to the front lobby. While A.S. was 2

back behind the front desk, holding Ms. Dunlap’s license, and attempting to call the police, Ms.

Dunlap climbed up onto the counter and lunged at A.S., grabbing her license back and knocking

over a computer monitor. R.A. attempted to get Ms. Dunlap down off of the counter, so she

repeatedly hit him in the head and face before exiting the motel. Both A.S. and Ms. Dunlap

called the police.

{¶3} Ms. Dunlap was charged with three counts of disorderly conduct, two of which

involved recklessly causing inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to A.S. and R.A. by engaging in

fighting, in threatening harm, or in violent or turbulent behavior, under R.C. 2917.11(A)(1). The

third count involved recklessly causing inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to A.S. and R.A. by

making unreasonable noise or an offensively coarse utterance, gesture, or display or

communicating unwarranted and grossly abusive language to A.S. and R.A., under R.C.

2917.11(A)(2).

{¶4} Ms. Dunlap represented herself in a bench trial before a magistrate. She was

convicted of all three counts of disorderly conduct and was ordered to pay fines and costs. Ms.

Dunlap filed objections to the magistrate’s decision. The trial court rejected the magistrate’s

decision as to the R.C. 2917.11(A)(2) count, found Ms. Dunlap not guilty of that count, and

vacated the fines and costs associated with it. The court found the magistrate’s decision as to the

two R.C. 2917.11(A)(1) counts to be supported by the evidence and overruled Ms. Dunlap’s

objections.

{¶5} Ms. Dunlap appealed her convictions, but this Court dismissed the appeal for lack

of jurisdiction because the trial court had not yet issued a final judgment of conviction. See State

v. Dunlap, 9th Dist. Medina No. 17CA0026-M (July 17, 2017). The trial court then issued an

amended judgment entry adopting the magistrate’s decision as to the two R.C. 2917.11(A)(1) 3

counts, finding Ms. Dunlap guilty of those counts, and sentencing her to fines and costs. The

court also rejected the magistrate’s decision as to the R.C. 2917.11(A)(2) count, found Ms.

Dunlap not guilty of that count, and vacated the fines and costs associated with it.

{¶6} Ms. Dunlap now appeals from her convictions and raises nine assignments of

error for this Court’s review.

{¶7} For ease of analysis, we will consolidate some of her assignments of error.

II.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR ONE

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF [APPELLANT] IN DENYING APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR ACQUITTAL ON THE TWO DISORDERLY CONDUCT CHARGES WHEN THE STATE FAILED TO PRESENT SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE AS TO EACH MATERIAL ELEMENT TO SUSTAIN A CONVICTION OF THE CRIME CHARGED.

{¶8} In her first assignment of error, Ms. Dunlap argues that her convictions are not

supported by sufficient evidence. We disagree.

{¶9} Whether a conviction is supported by sufficient evidence is a question of law,

which this Court reviews de novo. State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 386 (1997).

“Sufficiency concerns the burden of production and tests whether the prosecution presented

adequate evidence for the case to go to the jury.” State v. Bressi, 9th Dist. Summit No. 27575,

2016-Ohio-5211, ¶ 25, citing Thompkins at 386. “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., quoting State

v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991), paragraph two of the syllabus. However, “we do not resolve

evidentiary conflicts or assess the credibility of witnesses, because these functions belong to the

trier of fact.” State v. Hall, 9th Dist. Summit No. 27827, 2017-Ohio-73, ¶ 10. 4

{¶10} Ms. Dunlap argues that the State failed to present sufficient evidence of each

element of disorderly conduct. She claims her actions were not reckless because A.S. was

hateful and racist toward her, and Ms. Dunlap was therefore worried and afraid A.S. would do

something to her and her family, so she nervously jumped onto the counter. She also claims that

A.S., not Ms. Dunlap, engaged in fighting, or violent and turbulent behavior, because A.S. was

wrongfully withholding the license and, instead of just letting go when Ms. Dunlap grabbed the

license, A.S. pulled it back “as if she were in a tug of war game[,]” causing Ms. Dunlap to knock

over the computer monitor. She further contends that striking R.A. several times in the head and

face did not constitute fighting or violent and turbulent behavior, because R.A. grabbed her wrist

first and Ms. Dunlap was only trying to free herself. She further argues that A.S., not Ms.

Dunlap, caused annoyance, inconvenience, or alarm by taunting Ms. Dunlap and refusing to

return her license; and R.A., not Ms. Dunlap, caused annoyance, inconvenience, or alarm by

initiating the physical confrontation.

{¶11} We note that the majority of Ms. Dunlap’s arguments under this assignment of

error essentially blame the victims for her own conduct and therefore sound more in weight, not

sufficiency. “[S]ufficiency and manifest weight are two separate, legally distinct arguments.”

State v. Vincente-Colon, 9th Dist. Lorain No. 09CA009705, 2010-Ohio-6242, ¶ 20. “A weight

challenge tests the persuasiveness of the evidence the State produced while a sufficiency

challenge tests the very production of that evidence.” State v. Hayes, 9th Dist. Summit No.

26388, 2013-Ohio-2429, ¶ 9. Because Ms. Dunlap’s stated assignment of error presents this

Court with strictly a sufficiency challenge and she does in fact initially argue that the State failed

to present sufficient evidence of each element of disorderly conduct, we will address that 5

particular argument alone under the appropriate standard of review, and we decline to address

the multitude of arguments claiming the victims were at fault for Ms. Dunlap’s conduct.

{¶12} Ms. Dunlap was convicted of two counts of disorderly conduct under R.C.

2917.11(A)(1), which states: “No person shall recklessly cause inconvenience, annoyance, or

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2018 Ohio 3525, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dunlap-ohioctapp-2018.