State v. Harner

2020 Ohio 1184
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 30, 2020
DocketCA2019-05-011
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2020 Ohio 1184 (State v. Harner) 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. Harner, 2020 Ohio 1184 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Harner, 2020-Ohio-1184.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO

CLINTON COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, :

Appellee, : CASE NO. CA2019-05-011

: OPINION - vs - 3/30/2020 :

JERRY WAYNE HARNER, SR., :

Appellant. :

CRIMINAL APPEAL FROM CLINTON COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS Case No. CRI 18-500-220

Richard W. Moyer, Clinton County Prosecuting Attorney, Katie Wilkin, 103 E. Main Street, Wilmington, Ohio 45177, for appellee

Jeffrey W. Stueve, 530 N. Broadway Street, Lebanon, Ohio 45036, for appellant

PIPER, J.

{¶ 1} Appellant, Jerry Harner Sr., appeals his conviction and sentence in the Clinton

County Court of Common Pleas for receiving stolen property and for having weapons while

under a disability.

{¶ 2} In late July 2016, retired Ohio State Highway Trooper James Sears was

driving past a residence on Nauvoo Road in Clinton County. As he drove by, Sears saw a Clinton CA2019-05-011

1968 Thunderbird camper he owned and had previously reported stolen sitting in a

driveway. Sears pulled into the driveway and called the sheriff's office. An investigation

was conducted and in October 2016, a search warrant was performed on the property.

During the search, officers discovered several other stolen items on the property, including

a 2003 Harley Davidson motorcycle, a 2016 United box trailer, a United UTX box trailer and

a 2016 Honda dirt bike. In addition, multiple firearms were discovered in the residence,

including several in the master bedroom.

{¶ 3} Harner was charged with several fourth- and fifth-degree counts of receiving

stolen property and with a charge of having weapons under disability based on firearms that

were found in the residence.

{¶ 4} At trial, the property owners testified that their property had been stolen.

Clinton County Sheriff's Detective Douglas Eastes testified regarding the search warrant

and the items that were discovered during the search. Eastes and an expert from the

National Insurance Crime Bureau ("NICB") explained how they determined the items were

stolen, based on identifying marks, including the use of identifying marks not known to the

public. In addition, the detective testified to discovering items with ground-off Vehicle

Identification Numbers (VIN) which were replaced with a homemade stamp comprised of

letters and numbers. The detective testified that when the numbers in the homemade stamp

were disregarded, the letters spelled "H-A-R-N-E-R."

{¶ 5} A sheriff's deputy who assisted in the search testified and discussed the

discovery of firearms in a farmhouse on the property. He stated that he test fired some of

the weapons and determined they were operable. He also testified that he determined

Harner and Rebecca Martin, Harner's girlfriend, were living in the home based on items

found in the master bedroom, which included men's and women's clothes, a shoe box with

male and female sex toys, and credit cards with Harner's name and Martin's name on them.

-2- Clinton CA2019-05-011

{¶ 6} Detective Eastes testified that he was concerned with the discovery of

firearms in the house because he was aware that Harner had a previous drug conviction

which precluded him from possessing firearms. Eastes indicated that he also interviewed

some of the people on the scene during the search warrant. He testified that Martin, despite

having some of her property in the house, told him Harner lived in the house, but she did

not. Eastes testified that Harner was not present during the search, and the detective

attempted to make contact later, but Harner did not return messages.

{¶ 7} Detective Eastes also testified that he spoke with a relative, Virginia Wallace,

during execution of the search warrant. Wallace told Eastes that she and her son lived in

a trailer which shares a common driveway with the farmhouse. Wallace told him that Martin

and Harner lived at the farmhouse.

{¶ 8} At trial, Martin testified that she lived at the residence on Nauvoo Road with

children she has with Harner. She testified that she has a business and acquires vehicles

for salvage parts. She stated that Harner worked for her doing auto repair and service. She

testified that she bought some of the items at issue from other people and other items were

dropped off at the property for work to be performed on them. When questioned, she

indicated she did not have any documentation with her to support her statements.

{¶ 9} According to Martin, at one point, Harner was living on the property, but he

agreed to move out so she could live there with the children. She did not remember exactly

when she moved in, but only that she was living in the house in August 2016 when the

children started school. She testified that Harner often came back to the property to see

his sons, but he did not live there.

{¶ 10} Harner testified that in the spring and summer of 2016, he was in the process

of moving out of the property. He stated that he did not have a fixed address, but he was

not on the property on July 27, 2016. He indicated that he performs work for Martin on the

-3- Clinton CA2019-05-011

property, but did not bring any documents, such as 1099 forms, to show his employment by

Martin.

{¶ 11} A jury found Harner guilty of four counts of fourth-degree receiving stolen

property, one count of fifth-degree receiving stolen property and the third-degree felony

weapons under disability charge. He was sentenced to 12 months on each of the fourth-

degree felonies, 6 months on the fifth-degree felony and 14 months on the third-degree

felony. All of the sentences were ordered to run concurrently, for an aggregate sentence

of 14 months.

{¶ 12} Harner now appeals his conviction and sentence, raising five assignments of

error for our review. For ease of discussion, we begin by addressing Harner's third

assignment of error.

{¶ 13} III. THE EVIDENCE WAS INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE

CONVICTIONS AND THE CONVICTIONS WERE AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF

THE EVIDENCE.

{¶ 14} When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence underlying a criminal

conviction, an appellate court examines the evidence in order to determine whether such

evidence, if believed, would support a conviction. State v. Workman, 12th Dist. Clermont

Nos. CA2016-12-082 and CA2016-12-083, 2017-Ohio-8638, ¶ 20. 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." State v. Watson, 12th Dist. Warren No. CA2014-08-110, 2015-Ohio-

2321, ¶ 22.

{¶ 15} To determine whether a conviction is against the manifest weight of the

evidence, the reviewing court must look at the entire record, weigh the evidence and all

reasonable inferences, consider the credibility of the witnesses, and determine whether in

-4- Clinton CA2019-05-011

resolving the conflicts in the evidence, the trier of fact clearly lost its way and created such

a manifest miscarriage of justice that the conviction must be reversed. State v. Bradbury,

12th Dist. Butler No. CA2015-06-111, 2016-Ohio-5091, ¶ 17. An appellate court will

overturn a conviction due to the manifest weight of the evidence only in extraordinary

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Bluebook (online)
2020 Ohio 1184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-harner-ohioctapp-2020.