State v. Hunter

2018 Ohio 4249
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided October 22, 2018·No. 17CA0069-M·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COUNTY OF MEDINA )

STATE OF OHIO C.A. No. 17CA0069-M Appellee

v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT ENTERED IN THE

WILLIAM D. HUNTER COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COUNTY OF MEDINA, OHIO

Appellant CASE No. 16 CR 0696

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY Dated: October 22, 2018

SCHAFER, Presiding Judge.

{¶1} Appellant-Defendant, William Hunter appeals his convictions in the Medina County Court of Common Pleas. We affirm.

I.

{¶2} Following the sale of drugs by an accomplice to a Medina County Drug Task Force informant, the Medina County Grand Jury indicted Hunter on the following four charges: (I) having weapons while under disability in violation of R.C. 2923.13(A)(3), a felony of the third degree; (II) receiving stolen property (motor vehicle) in violation of R.C. 2913.51(A), a felony of the fourth degree; (III) complicity to aggravated trafficking in drugs in violation of R.C. 2923.03(A)(2) and R.C. 2925.03(A)(1)/(C)(1)(a), a felony of the fifth degree; and (IV) complicity to trafficking cocaine in violation of R.C. 2923.03(A)(2) and R.C. 2925.03(A)(1)/(C)(4)(a), a felony of the fifth degree. Count III included a firearm specification pursuant to R.C. 2941.141(A). Count IV included a firearm specification pursuant to R.C.

2941.141(A) and forfeiture specifications pursuant to R.C. 2941.1417(A) and R.C. 2981.02(A)(1). Hunter entered a plea of not guilty and the matter proceeded through the pretrial process.

{¶3} The matter ultimately proceeded to a jury trial. After the prosecution rested its case, Hunter moved for acquittal pursuant Crim.R. 29 as to Counts I and II. The trial court denied the motion as to Count I, having weapons while under disability, and granted the motion as to Count II, receiving stolen property, and dismissed the charge. The jury subsequently returned a verdict finding Hunter (1) not guilty of Count I, having weapons while under disability; (2) guilty of Count III, complicity to aggravated trafficking in drugs and finding that Hunter did have a firearm on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense, (3) guilty of Count IV, complicity to trafficking in cocaine. Regarding the forfeiture specification attached to Count IV, the jury found that the property was not used or intended to be used in any manner by Hunter to commit or facilitate the commission of Count IV. The trial court thereafter sentenced Hunter according to law.

{¶4} Hunter filed this timely appeal, raising four assignments of error for our review.

II.

Assignment of Error I

The trial court erred by failing to grant a judgment of acquittal, pursuant to Crim.R. 29(A), on the charges, and thereafter entering a judgment of conviction of the offense as that [charge] was supported by sufficient evidence, in violation of [Hunter]’s right to due process of law, as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

{¶5} In his first assignment of error, Hunter contends that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support the firearm specification since there was no testimony presented

regarding the operability of the firearm. Hunter does not challenge his conviction for complicity to aggravated trafficking in drugs nor his conviction for complicity to trafficking cocaine.

{¶6} A challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction presents a question of law. State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 386 (1997). Upon review, “[t]he 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. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991), paragraph two of the syllabus. Although we conduct the review de novo, “we neither resolve evidentiary conflicts nor assess the credibility of witnesses, as both are functions reserved for the trier of fact.” State v. Jones, 1st Dist. Hamilton Nos. C-120570, C-120751, 2013-Ohio-4775, ¶ 33.

{¶7} This matter implicates the jury’s finding that Hunter did have a firearm on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense of complicity to commit aggravated in drugs. “R.C. 2941.141(A) is a penalty enhancement statute which provides for the imposition of a one-year mandatory term upon any offender for having a firearm on or about the offender’s person or under the offender’s control during the commission of a felony.” State v. Collins, 9th Dist. Lorain No. 14CA010687, 2015-Ohio-5175, ¶ 13, citing State v. Ervin, 93 Ohio App.3d 178, 179-180 (8th Dist.1994). “Firearm” is defined as “any deadly weapon capable of expelling or propelling one or more projectiles by the action of an explosive or combustible propellant. ‘Firearm’ includes an unloaded firearm, and any firearm that is inoperable but that can readily be rendered operable.” R.C. 2923.11(B)(1). Pursuant to R.C. 2923.11, a “trier of fact may rely upon circumstantial evidence, including, but not limited to, the representations and actions of the individual exercising control over the firearm” when determining whether the firearm at issue “is capable of expelling or propelling one or more projectiles by the action of an

explosive or combustible propellant[.]” Thus, “[w]hen determining whether a firearm is operable, a trier of fact may consider all relevant facts and circumstances surrounding a crime.” Collins at ¶ 13, citing Thompkins at 385.

{¶8} On appeal, Hunter’s sole contention is that no evidence, direct or circumstantial, was presented to show that the firearm recovered in this case was operable or could have been rendered operable. However, a review of the record shows that Agent Carrell of the Medina County Drug Task Force testified that while conducting an inventory search of the vehicle Hunter was driving, he found a revolver with “four or six cylinders with bullets in it.” The handgun and bullets were admitted as evidence. This Court has previously recognized that the admission of the gun itself “would be sufficient to prove operability.” See State v. Messer, 107 Ohio App.3d 51, 55 (9th Dist.1995), citing State v. Rogers, 68 Ohio App. 3d 4, 10 (9th Dist.1990), quoting State v. Smith, 9th Dist. Summit No. 14231, 1990 Ohio App. LEXIS 931 (March 14, 1990) (stating that the Supreme Court of Ohio in State v. Gaines, 46 Ohio St.3d 65, 69 (1989), inferred that the “introduction of the gun into evidence is sufficient evidence from which the trier of fact could find that the gun was operable.”); State v. Johnson, 9th Dist. Lorain No. 14CA010688, 2016-Ohio-872, ¶ 13. Similarly, some of our sister Districts have also held that where testimony established that a gun was loaded at the time of the offense and that gun was submitted into evidence, a jury could reasonably conclude that the firearm was operable. See State v.Dickerson, 11th Dist. Astabula No. 2013-A-0046, 2015-Ohio-938, ¶ 36 (concluding that because a firearm was loaded when the officer found it and the firearm was submitted into evidence, a reasonable jury could have concluded the firearm was operable); State v. Allah, 4th Dist. Gallia No. 14CA12, 2015-Ohio-5060, ¶ 13 (concluding that “[n]either testimony of test- firing nor operability reports are required to prove operability” and that where the jury had the

actual weapons, they “could logically infer from the loading of one gun and the provision of ammunition for the other that both were capable of firing that ammunition.”).

{¶9} Therefore, Hunter’s first assignment of error is overruled.

Assignment of Error II

[Hunter]’s convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence.

{¶10} In his second assignment of error, Hunter contends that his convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence.

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State v. Hunter, 2018 Ohio 4249 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018).

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