State v. Handshoe

2023 Ohio 3205
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 11, 2023
Docket1-22-54
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2023 Ohio 3205 (State v. Handshoe) 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. Handshoe, 2023 Ohio 3205 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Handshoe, 2023-Ohio-3205.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT ALLEN COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO,

PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, CASE NO. 1-22-54

v.

JON HANDSHOE, OPINION

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Appeal from Allen County Common Pleas Court Trial Court No. CR 2020 0170

Judgment Affirmed

Date of Decision: September 11, 2023

APPEARANCES:

William T. Cramer for Appellant

John R. Willamowski, Jr. for Appellee Case No. 1-22-54

POWELL, J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Jon Handshoe (“Handshoe”), appeals the August

25, 2022 judgment of conviction and sentence entered against him in the Allen

County Court of Common Pleas, following a jury trial in which Handshoe was

found guilty of burglary. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Procedural History

{¶2} This case originated on August 13, 2020, when the Allen County grand

jury returned a single-count indictment charging Handshoe with burglary, a second-

degree felony in violation of R.C. 2911.12(A)(2). On August 31, 2020, an

arraignment was held and Handshoe entered a plea of not guilty. Over 22 months

of pretrial proceedings then ensued.

{¶3} On July 11, 2022, a jury trial commenced in the case. Immediately prior

to the start of trial, the state amended the indictment to charge the lesser-included

offense of burglary in violation of R.C. 2911.12(A)(3), a third-degree felony.

During the course of the two-day trial, the prosecution presented the testimony of

four witnesses and introduced numerous exhibits.

{¶4} On July 12, 2022, the jury returned a verdict finding defendant guilty

as charged in the amended indictment. The trial court accepted the verdict,

discharged the jury, and ordered a presentence investigation.

-2- Case No. 1-22-54

{¶5} On August 24, 2022, a sentencing hearing was held and Handshoe was

sentenced to 24 months in prison.

{¶6} On September 22, 2022, Handshoe filed the instant appeal, in which he

raises two assignments of error for our review.

First Assignment of Error

Appellant’s rights to due process under the state and federal constitutions were violated by the improper admission of other acts evidence that appellant was abusive and threatening toward an alleged accomplice.

Second Assignment of Error

Appellant’s due process rights under the state and federal constitution [sic] were violated by the improper admission of a duplicate of a duplicate of portions of video surveillance purporting to show the burglary in process.

Summary of Evidence Presented at Trial

{¶7} Michael Neal, the victim in this case, testified that in June of 2020 he

was living at 619 Ohio Street in Lima, Allen County, Ohio. Neal owned that

residence and had lived there for more than five years. Over the weekend of June

27th and 28th of that year, Neal engaged in sexual relations at his home with a

prostitute named Ronda Volbert, along with another sex worker who was a friend

of Volbert’s. Neal paid the women $80.00 for that transaction. Neal had known

Volbert, and had utilized her professional services, for several years. Through his

relationship with Volbert, Neal had also become acquainted with Jon Handshoe, the

-3- Case No. 1-22-54

defendant-appellant, who was Volbert’s boyfriend and who also arranged and

controlled Volbert’s prostitution services. When Volbert and her friend visited

Neal’s home on the weekend of June 27, 2020, Handshoe came over to Neal’s

residence along with the women. Handshoe did not enter Neal’s home but, rather,

stayed outside on the sidewalk.

{¶8} On Monday, June 29, 2020, Neal was at work from 7:00 a.m. until 3:00

p.m., which was his typical work schedule every Monday through Friday. On the

afternoon of June 29th, when Neal arrived home from work, he found that his house

had been forcibly entered and ransacked. Neal determined that his back door had

been forced open and that numerous items had been stolen, including pocket knives,

jewelry, a small floor safe, and the contents of the safe which included

approximately $500.00 in cash, blank checks, and Neal’s birth certificate and

passport. Neal called the police and reported the burglary.

{¶9} While waiting for the police to arrive, Neal walked next door to his

brother’s house and asked his brother to check his home’s security cameras for video

that might show the intruder or intruders. Neal’s brother was able to find video of

the incident but was unable to download the video from his surveillance system in

order to copy the video to give to the police. So Neal then used his cellphone to

record a portion of the video as it played on his brother’s monitor. When watching

the video, Neal noted that one portion showed two persons leaving the back of his

-4- Case No. 1-22-54

house. Neal recognized the woman in that portion of the video to be Ronda Volbert.

A subsequent segment of the video depicted two men in the alley by Neal’s house,

and Neal thought that one of those men was Handshoe.

{¶10} Lima Police Department Patrolman Brandon Stephenson testified that

he was the initial officer dispatched to 619 Ohio Street in response to Michael Neal

reporting the burglary. Upon arrival, Stephenson noted the disarray in Neal’s home,

along with damage to the property where entry had been made by the perpetrators,

and Stephenson called for another police unit to respond in order to photograph the

scene. Neal told the officer about the various items that were missing. Neal also

informed Stephenson that Neal’s brother next door had security cameras that had

captured some video of the burglary in progress, and Neal showed the officer the

video Neal had recorded on his cellphone. While doing so, Stephenson’s body

camera recorded a video of Neal playing the video on his phone for Stephenson.

Neal and Stephenson then went next door and also watched the video on Neal’s

brother’s monitor; however, the brother was unable to actually download the

original video in order for it to be copied. Nonetheless, based on Stephenson’s prior

knowledge of Jon Handshoe, along with information provided by the victim,

Stephenson determined that Handshoe was one of the persons depicted on the video

of the burglary.

-5- Case No. 1-22-54

{¶11} Detective Matt Boss of the Lima Police Department testified that he

was assigned to conduct follow-up investigation on the burglary report. He was

assigned the case the day after the burglary occurred. Upon learning that Ronda

Volbert had been identified in the video and that one of the men in the video was

thought to be Handshoe, Boss obtained an address for Volbert and Handshoe, which

was 512 West Kibby Street. The detective went to that residence but got no answer

when he knocked on the door. As Boss was leaving the house at 512 West Kibby,

he spoke with some neighbors who confirmed that Volbert and Handshoe both lived

at that address. Detective Boss then obtained a search warrant for the residence at

512 West Kibby. Upon executing the search warrant later that day, police found

both Handshoe and Volbert in the house on Kibby Street and placed them under

arrest. Handshoe was searched incident to that arrest and one of the knives stolen

from Michael Neal’s house in the burglary was found in Handshoe’s pocket. When

the police searched the house, several pieces of jewelry stolen in the burglary were

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2023 Ohio 3205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-handshoe-ohioctapp-2023.