State v. Hanners

2022 Ohio 4114
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 18, 2022
Docket29375
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2022 Ohio 4114 (State v. Hanners) 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. Hanners, 2022 Ohio 4114 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Hanners, 2022-Ohio-4114.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT MONTGOMERY COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO : : Plaintiff-Appellee : Appellate Case No. 29375 : v. : Trial Court Case No. 2020-CRB-3626 : SHAWN A. HANNERS : (Criminal Appeal from : Municipal Court) Defendant-Appellant : :

...........

OPINION

Rendered on the 18th day of November, 2022.

STEPHANIE L. COOK, Atty. Reg. No. 0067101 & ALISSA SCHRINER, Atty. Reg. No. 0089388, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, City of Dayton Prosecutor’s Office, Appellate Division, 335 West Third Street, Room 372, Dayton, Ohio 45402 Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellee

V. GAYLE MILLER, Atty. Reg. No. 0091528, 120 West Second Street, Suite 320, Dayton, Ohio 45402 Attorney for Defendant-Appellant

.............

LEWIS, J. -2-

{¶ 1} Defendant-Appellant Shawn A. Hanners appeals from his conviction

following a jury trial for one count of menacing, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. For

the reasons that follow, the judgment of the trial court will be affirmed.

I. Procedural History and Facts

{¶ 2} On November 24, 2020, Hanners was charged by way of complaint in the

Dayton Municipal Court with one count of aggravated menacing in violation of R.C.

2903.21(A), a misdemeanor of the first degree, and one count of menacing in violation of

R.C. 2903.22, a misdemeanor of the second degree. The charges arose from an

incident that was alleged to have occurred on November 21, 2020, in the City of Dayton.

{¶ 3} Hanners entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment and was appointed

counsel. Jessica Musselman was charged as a co-defendant as a result of the same

incident for similar offenses. Consequently, the State filed a motion to consolidate the

two cases for trial, which was granted. The case proceeded to a joint jury trial on October

20-21, 2021. Dayton Municipal Court Magistrate Colette Moorman presided over the

trial as acting judge.

{¶ 4} Duiene Stanfield testified first for the State. She stated that on the evening

of November 21, 2020, she was in a car with her husband, Christopher Stanfield, near

the intersection of Linden and Smithville heading toward their home. 1 While at the

stoplight, she observed four unknown black teenagers in the parking lot of a gas station,

which was on one of the corners of the intersection. She also saw two white males, one

of whom was later identified as Hanners, and a white female, later identified as

1 For ease of discussion, we will refer to the Stanfields by their first names throughout this opinion. -3-

Musselman, in a yard behind a white house that sat behind the gas station. Duiene saw

the teenagers and the adults yelling at each other. Although Duiene and Christopher

turned at the light to head home, they decided to turn around and go back to intervene.

When Duiene and Christopher returned to the gas station parking lot, Christopher got out

of the car and told Duiene to call 911, which she did. Duiene observed the two white

males throwing things (chairs, lighter fluid, and bricks) and observed Musselman with a

butcher knife. While the teenagers were standing in the parking lot, Hanners hit one of

them in the chest with a brick, resulting in some bleeding. Christopher got the teenagers

further away from the yard to talk to them and to tend to the teenager who was injured.

{¶ 5} While Duiene was standing just outside her car on the phone with 911,

Musselman began screaming at Duiene. Musselman yelled profanities at Duiene, told

her to stay out of their business, and stated “I’ll kill you b****.” Trial Tr. 56. Additionally,

while holding the butcher knife above her head and moving it side to side, Musselman

repeatedly told Duiene “I see you,” that she could see her car, and that she could see her

license plate. They did not know each other prior to their interaction that evening.

{¶ 6} Although the unknown white male had gone into the house, he returned

outside with a large white pit bull. Hanners, who was holding the dog’s chain, let the

chain go and told the dog to “get the kids.” Duiene testified she was scared and

concerned for her husband’s safety, because he was standing near the kids when the

dog was let loose. Meanwhile, Musselman continued to yell derogatory insults at Duiene

and again screamed that she would kill her even after the police arrived at the scene. Id.

at 58. -4-

{¶ 7} According to Duiene, while police were at the scene, Hanners put the dog

back inside the house and then came outside and threw a chair. During that time,

Hanners was screaming “I don’t give a f***. I’ll f*** all of you up.” Id. at 59. Duiene

stated that the threats from Hanners scared her and that she was still scared while

testifying at court. Duiene explained that she was very afraid because even after the

police arrived, she had been scared that Hanners and Musselman were going to charge

her and that she would get hit. Id. at 60.

{¶ 8} Christopher Stanfield also testified for the State. He stated that he and

Duiene were driving home and saw the group of kids and the two adults “jawing” at each

other, and they all appeared angry. Based on what he saw, he and Duiene turned their

car around and parked in the gas station parking lot to intervene. Once they parked their

car, they could hear the teenagers and the adult males screaming back and forth.

Christopher got out of the car and yelled at the kids to get back and told his wife to call

911. Two of the kids came back toward Christopher, but the other two stayed up by the

backyard and continued yelling with the adults. According to Christopher, one of the

male adults threw a rock and hit one of the kids in the chest. At that point, Christopher

was scared for his own safety. Christopher also observed Musselman outside with a

knife, screaming and yelling. Christopher heard Musselman threaten to kill his wife.

Although Christopher saw a chair get thrown, he did not identify who threw the chair. He

also observed the dog outside but was unaware of how it got outside.

{¶ 9} The last witness for the State was Dayton Police Officer Christopher White.

White testified that he had responded to the 911 call around 4:30 p.m. to the gas station -5-

on Smithville Road. When he arrived, he observed the parties yelling at each other, and

they were all very agitated. Although he did not recall specifically what anyone had been

yelling, he did recall that Hanners had yelled at him to leave the property and had stated

that they did not want police help. White testified that both Musselman and Hanners

were very unpleasant and angry. White observed an abrasion on the side juvenile who

had been injured.

{¶ 10} At the conclusion of the State’s case, Hanners made a Crim.R. 29 motion

for acquittal, which was overruled. He also requested a jury instruction for the lesser

included offense of disorderly conduct, in violation of R.C. 2917.11(A)(1), a minor

misdemeanor. The trial court denied Hanners’ requested instruction.

{¶ 11} Hanners elected not to testify, but Musselman testified on her own behalf.

Musselman claimed that she had not seen the Stanfields until after the police arrived and

that she had not been paying any attention to them because her focus was on the

juveniles. Musselman indicated she was terrified for herself and her child’s life, who

remained inside the house.

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