State v. Griffin

2012 Ohio 503
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 10, 2012
Docket24001
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

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Bluebook
State v. Griffin, 2012 Ohio 503 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Griffin, 2012-Ohio-503.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO

STATE OF OHIO :

Plaintiff-Appellee : C.A. CASE NO. 24001

vs. : T.C. CASE NO. 09CR1117/3

DE’ARGO GRIFFIN : (Criminal Appeal from Common Pleas Court) Defendant-Appellant :

. . . . . . . . .

O P I N I O N

Rendered on the 10th day of February, 2012.

Mathias H. Heck, Jr., Pros. Attorney; Kirsten A. Brandt, Asst. Pros. Attorney, Atty. Reg. No. 0070162, P.O. Box 972, Dayton, Ohio 45422 Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellee

Kent J. Depoorter, Atty. Reg. No. 0058487, 7501 Paragon Road, Lower Level, Dayton, Ohio 45459 Attorney for Defendant-Appellant

GRADY, P.J.:

{¶ 1} Defendant, De’Argo Griffin, appeals from his convictions

and sentences for possession of heroin, possession of criminal

tools, and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity,

{¶ 2} On April 10, 2009, Defendant and two co-defendants, 2

Anthony Franklin and Deshawn Foster, were indicted on one count

of possessing of heroin, between ten and fifty grams, in violation

of R.C. 2925.11(A). Defendant filed a motion seeking a separate

trial from that of his co-defendants. On October 26, 2009,

Defendant and his two co-defendants were indicted on additional

charges: five counts of possessing criminal tools, R.C. 2923.24(A),

and one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, R.C.

2923.32(A)(1), based upon multiple acts of possessing and selling

crack cocaine and heroin between May 13, 2006 and April 2, 2009.

Defendant filed an amended motion for a separate trial. The

motion was denied. The court set a trial date of March 1, 2010.

{¶ 3} On February 23, 2010, Attorney William Daly entered his

appearance as co-counsel for Defendant. Three days later, on

February 26, 2010, Attorney Daley filed a motion on behalf of

Defendant to relieve court-appointed counsel J. Allen Wilmes as

counsel for Defendant, to substitute Attorney Daley as counsel

for Defendant, and to continue the trial. The trial court

overruled Defendant’s motion on March 1, 2010, following a hearing.

{¶ 4} Defendant Griffin and co-defendant Franklin were tried

together before a jury beginning on or about March 2, 2010.

Co-defendant Foster had entered pleas of guilty before trial.

Defendant filed a pro se motion renewing his request for

substitution of counsel and a continuance of the trial so that 3

Attorney Daley could represent him. The trial court denied

Defendant’s motion. Following a jury trial, Defendant was found

guilty of all charges. The trial court sentenced Defendant to

concurrent prison terms totaling five years and a fifteen thousand

dollar fine.

{¶ 5} Defendant timely appealed to this court from his

conviction and sentence.

FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

{¶ 6} “APPELLANT’S CONVICTION UNDER R.C.2923.32(A)(1),

ENGAGING IN A PATTERN OF CORRUPT ACTIVITY, MUST BE REVERSED BECAUSE

INSUFFICIENCIES IN THE INDICTMENTS RENDER THE CONVICTION VOID FOR

LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION AND FAILURE TO CHARGE AN

OFFENSE.”

{¶ 7} Defendant argues that the indictment is defective

because it fails to allege each specific corrupt activity or offense

in which Defendant participated that make up the Engaging in a

Pattern of Corrupt Activity charge in violation of R.C.

2923.32(A)(1). We addressed this same argument in the appeal of

Defendant’s co-defendant, Anthony Franklin, and concluded that

the indictment charging Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity

in the words of the applicable statute, R.C. 2923.32(A)(1), is

not defective because it fails to specify each corrupt activity

in which Defendant is alleged to have participated. State v. 4

Franklin, 2nd Dist., Montgomery App. Nos. 24011, 24012,

2011-Ohio-6802. For the reasons stated in our opinion in Franklin,

Defendant’s first assignment of error is overruled.

SECOND ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

{¶ 8} “THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION AND VIOLATED

APPELLANT’S SIXTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS BY DENYING THE

APPELLANT’S MOTION TO BE REPRESENTED BY RETAINED COUNSEL OF HIS

CHOICE.”

{¶ 9} Defendant argues that the trial court abused its

discretion when it denied his requests to substitute his

newly-retained counsel for his court appointed counsel, and for

a continuance of the trial made necessary by the requested

substitution.

“Abuse of discretion” has been defined as an attitude

that is unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable.

Huffman v. Hair Surgeon, Inc. (1985), 19 Ohio St.3d 83,

87, 19 OBR 123, 126, 482 N.E.2d 1248, 1252. It is to

be expected that most instances of abuse of discretion

will result in decisions that are simply unreasonable,

rather than decisions that are unconscionable or

arbitrary.

A decision is unreasonable if there is no sound reasoning

process that would support that decision. It is not 5

enough that the reviewing court, were it deciding the

issue de novo, would not have found that reasoning

process to be persuasive, perhaps in view of

countervailing reasoning processes that would support

a contrary result.

AAAA Enterprises, Inc. v. River Place Community Redevelopment,

50 Ohio St.3d 157, 161, 553 N.E.2d 597 (1990).

{¶ 10} The decision whether to grant or deny a request for a

continuance is a matter left to the sound discretion of the trial

court. A reviewing court will not disturb that decision absent

an abuse of discretion. State v. Powell, 49 Ohio St.3d 255, 552

N.E.2d 191 (1990); Ungar v. Serafite, 376 U.S. 575, 589, 84 S.Ct.

841, 11 L.Ed.2d 921 (1964).

{¶ 11} In State v. Rash, 111 Ohio App.3d 351, 354, 676 N.E.2d

167, (2nd Dist. 1996), this court observed:

In Ungar, the United States Supreme Court wrote:

The matter of continuance is traditionally within the

discretion of the trial judge, and it is not every denial

of a request for more time that violates due process

even if the party fails to offer evidence or is compelled

to defend without counsel. Contrariwise, a myopic

insistence upon expeditiousness in the face of a

justifiable request for delay can render the right to 6

defend with counsel an empty formality. There are no

mechanical tests for deciding when a denial of a

continuance is so arbitrary as to violate due process.

The answer must be found in the circumstances present

in every case, particularly in the reasons presented

to the trial judge at the time the request is made.

(Emphasis added and citations omitted.) Ungar at 589,

84 S.Ct. at 849-850, 11 L.Ed.2d at 931.

The Ohio Supreme Court has adopted and followed a

balancing test from Unger that requires a “reviewing

court to weigh potential prejudice against ‘a court's

right to control its own docket and the public's interest

in the prompt and efficient dispatch of justice.’”

Powell, 49 Ohio St.3d at 259, 552 N.E.2d at 196, citing

Unger, 67 Ohio St.2d at 67, 21 O.O.3d at 43, 423 N.E.2d

at 1080. In Powell, the Supreme Court listed relevant

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