State v. Grayson

95 N.E.3d 1025, 2017 Ohio 7175
CourtCourt of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County
DecidedAugust 10, 2017
DocketNos. 105081; 105082
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 95 N.E.3d 1025 (State v. Grayson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Grayson, 95 N.E.3d 1025, 2017 Ohio 7175 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2017).

Opinions

PATRICIA ANN BLACKMON, J.:

{¶ 1} Michael T. Grayson ("Grayson") appeals from the trial court's failure to merge his multiple convictions for improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation *1027and felonious assault. Grayson assigns the following errors for our review:

I. The trial court committed plain error in failing to merge four counts of improperly discharging a firearm at an occupied structure into a single count.
II. The trial court erred in failing to merge appellant's convictions for discharging a firearm into a habitation with his convictions for felonious assault.

{¶ 2} Having reviewed the record and pertinent law, we affirm Grayson's sentence in Case No. CR-15-597625-A and vacate Grayson's sentence in Case No. CR-16-606430-A. The apposite facts follow.

{¶ 3} On May 18, 2016, Fannie Loper ("Loper") and her friend Roychemere Bolling ("Bolling") were asleep on the living room floor of Loper's sister's home, which is one of the downstairs units in a quadruplex located at 6538 Newman Avenue in Cleveland. Grayson is Loper's ex-boyfriend and the father of two of her four children. At approximately 9:00 a.m., Loper and Bolling woke up to see Grayson peering into the front living room window of the house. Grayson fired six shots into the window. Two bullets struck Bolling, one in the knee and one in the back. Loper, Bolling, three of Loper's children, Loper's sister, and Loper's sister's boyfriend were all in the house at the time of the shooting. Nobody else was injured during the incident.

{¶ 4} On May 31, 2016, Grayson was charged in a ten-count indictment in Cuyahoga C.P. No. CR-16-606430-A as follows: four counts of improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation in violation of R.C. 2923.161(A)(1) ; one count of felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(1) ; two counts of felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2) ; one count of having weapons while under disability in violation of R.C. 2923.13(A)(3) ; and two counts of endangering children in violation of R.C. 2919.22(A). In counts one through seven, Grayson was charged with one-and-three-year firearm specifications.

{¶ 5} On September 30, 2016, after a jury trial, Grayson was found guilty of all counts, including the firearm specifications.

{¶ 6} On October 6, 2016, the court sentenced Grayson to five years in prison on each of the four improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation convictions and three years in prison for the firearm specifications, to run consecutively, for a total of 23 years in prison. The court merged the two assault counts associated with Bolling and sentenced Grayson to eight years in prison for this offense. Additionally, the court sentenced Grayson to eight years in prison for the assault associated with Loper, 18 months for the weapons under disability conviction, and six months in prison for each child endangering conviction, all to run concurrent1 to the 23-year prison sentence.

Merger of Improperly Discharging a Firearm into a Habitation Offenses

{¶ 7} Pursuant to R.C. 2923.161(A)(1), "[n]o person, without privilege to do so, shall knowingly * * * [d]ischarge a firearm at or into an occupied structure that is a permanent or temporary habitation of any individual * * *." Under R.C. 2909.01(C), an "occupied structure" is a *1028house or building, inter alia, "to which any of the following applies":

(1) It is maintained as a permanent or temporary dwelling, even though it is temporarily unoccupied and whether or not any person is actually present.
(2) At the time, it is occupied as the permanent or temporary habitation of any person, whether or not any person is actually present.
(3) At the time, it is specially adapted for the overnight accommodation of any person, whether or not any person is actually present.
(4) At the time, any person is present or likely to be present in it.

{¶ 8} In simpler terms, a violation of R.C. 2923.161(A)(1) occurs when an offender fires a gun into someone's habitation, regardless of the presence of people. See State v. Mallet , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 76608, 2000 WL 1176880 (Aug. 17, 2000) ("a defendant can be convicted of improperly discharging a firearm even when his conduct did not create a risk of harm to another person").

{¶ 9} Similar to burglary, improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation "is not defined in terms of conduct toward another person." State v. Allen , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 82618, 2003-Ohio-6908, 2003 WL 22972696, ¶ 21. The "victim," so to speak, of a burglary is the occupied structure. Ohio courts have held that "the burglary offenses punish trespasses into structures." State v. Marriott , 189 Ohio App.3d 98, 2010-Ohio-3115, 937 N.E.2d 614, ¶ 29 (2d Dist.). See also State v. Gardner , 118 Ohio St.3d 420, 2008-Ohio-2787, 889 N.E.2d 995, ¶ 67 (it is the defendant's "entry into the dwelling with the requisite intent that constitutes the crime" of burglary).

{¶ 10} In State v. Adkins , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 95279, 2011-Ohio-5149, 2011 WL 4599819, ¶ 41, this court stated the following:

Should the state prevail in its argument that a defendant may be convicted on more than one count of burglary based upon the number of persons present in the residence when the defendant entered, it would turn 500 years of burglary law on its head. It would transform burglary from an offense against the sanctity of the dwelling house into an offense against the person.

{¶ 11} Neither Grayson nor the state cite law specifically holding that the number of convictions sustainable for improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation is dependant upon the number of people in the structure. This issue appears to be one of first impression for this court.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
95 N.E.3d 1025, 2017 Ohio 7175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-grayson-ohctapp8cuyahog-2017.