State v. Johnson

836 N.E.2d 1243, 163 Ohio App. 3d 132, 2005 Ohio 4243
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 16, 2005
DocketNo. 04AP-539.
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 836 N.E.2d 1243 (State v. Johnson) 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. Johnson, 836 N.E.2d 1243, 163 Ohio App. 3d 132, 2005 Ohio 4243 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

Petree, Judge.

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant and cross-appellee, the state of Ohio, appeals, and defendant-appellee and cross-appellant, Brandon Johnson, cross-appeals from the May 17, 2004 decision and entry of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granting defendant’s motion to suppress statements of defendant and motion to suppress identification. For the following reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part and remand the matter to the trial court.

2} On July 24, 2003, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Division of Domestic Relations, Juvenile Branch, bound over defendant, born September 11,1985, to the Criminal Division of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for trial because there was probable cause to believe that defendant committed the offenses of aggravated murder, in violation of R.C. 2903.01(B), and aggravated robbery, in violation of R.C. 2911.01(A)(1), and that defendant had used a firearm, as defined in R.C. 2923.11.

{¶ 3} On August 8, 2003, defendant was indicted on one count of aggravated robbery, with a firearm specification, and one count of aggravated murder, with a firearm specification and a specification that defendant committed the aggravated murder during an aggravated robbery and that defendant either acted as the principal offender in the aggravated murder or acted with prior calculation and design. The indictment alleged that the offenses occurred on or about December 12, 2002, when defendant was 17 years old, and that Ralph Glover was the victim of the offenses.

*136 {¶ 4} On January 5, 2004, defendant moved the trial court for an order suppressing as evidence any eyewitness identification by Junko Glover, the wife of Ralph Glover. Defendant also filed a motion to suppress oral statements defendant had made to Jennie Chapman, a former social worker for Netcare Corporation (“Netcare”), and Shaletha Sanders, defendant’s juvenile-court probation officer. The state filed memoranda in opposition to these motions.

{¶ 5} A suppression hearing was held over the course of three days, April 22, 26, and 27, 2004. The evidence that was presented at the suppression hearing indicated as follows.

{¶ 6} Pursuant to a court order, Chapman completed a mental-health and a drug and alcohol assessment of defendant on January 27, 2003. Defendant was in custody at the time of this assessment. Only Chapman and defendant were present when the assessment of defendant occurred in the detention center. Generally, an assessment would take approximately two' hours, but it depended on who was present and the particular juvenile. Chapman testified that if a juvenile is involved with the court system, an assessment may be part of a process to determine “what was going to happen next in terms of disposition.” At the suppression hearing, Chapman identified the “court report, the assessment,” that she prepared regarding defendant, which was provided to the juvenile court. According to Netcare procedure, the report would have been provided to Netcare representatives, the client’s attorney, the magistrate, and any other person involved, which would include the prosecutor.

{¶ 7} At the beginning of the assessment with defendant, Chapman informed him that the assessment was court-ordered and that information provided during the assessment would be turned over to the juvenile court. According to Chapman, this statement was made in order for the juvenile to understand that information provided would not be confidential. Chapman testified that she did not think that she had informed defendant that she would share assessment information with the Columbus Police Department, but she recalled informing defendant that she would share information with his probation officer. Chapman testified that she was trained to ask open-ended questions and that she used open-ended questions with defendant.

{¶ 8} Chapman testified regarding the assessment report, which was admitted into evidence. In the report, Chapman quoted statements that defendant made during the assessment, which occurred on January 27, 2003. These statements were typed into the report at the time he made them. Chapman asked defendant about the legal charges against him at the time. Chapman recorded defendant’s response as follows: “The first time I stole a car, I was like sixteen. I think I got charged with RSP [receiving stolen property]. I’ve stolen like three or four cars. *137 I was going to sell them to a chop shop. I sold them so I could buy clothes and get a couple guns.” In addition, the report states:

When asked what he needed guns for, client reported he had robbed people on three or four occasions at gunpoint, and stated “I shot someone three months ago when I was robbing them. I was AWOL, I needed food, so I would rob someone and take money, cell phones, some jewelry. This one time, there was a struggle, and I shot this guy, and then I ran. I saw on the news later that he died. I don’t remember his name. I didn’t turn myself in. It would have been too much to handle.” Client initially stated this event occurred approximately three months ago, but then stated that he had AWOL’d from home in December 2002, and thus was somewhat unsure about the time frame. Client did not express remorse for this incident. At the conclusion of the assessment, he did state “I’m wondering if because I told you that I killed someone, I’ll have to go to jail and not to placement.”

Id. Chapman testified that based on her assessment of defendant, her diagnosis of defendant was “cannabis dependence and conduct disorder and alcohol abuse.”

{¶ 9} Subsequent to her meeting with defendant, Chapman spoke with Sanders, defendant’s juvenile-court probation officer, and informed her of defendant’s statements about the homicide. Chapman also discussed the assessment with Detective Dana Farbacher from the Columbus Police Department Homicide Squad. She called him to report the statements.

{¶ 10} Sanders testified at the suppression hearing, and her testimony indicated the following. In September 2002, defendant was placed on probation for receiving stolen property (an automobile). Subsequent to being placed on probation, defendant was again arrested for receiving stolen property (an automobile). In December 2002, a magistrate of the juvenile court placed defendant on electronic monitoring. On December 9, 2002, defendant was absent without leave from his home. Defendant was arrested on December 30, 2002, and placed back into custody at the juvenile detention center. A presentence investigation (“PSi”) wag or¿ere(j.

{¶ 11} Sanders testified that when she learned of defendant’s homicide-related statements to Chapman, she could not believe that he had confessed to a murder, as she had not heard anything about him possibly committing a murder.

{¶ 12} Subsequent to her discussion with Chapman, Sanders interviewed defendant. Although Sanders begins every PSI interview by informing the juvenile that everything he or she says will be relayed to the magistrate or the judge, she did not read defendant his Miranda rights prior to the questioning. According to Sanders, she did not change her interview questions as a result of talking with Chapman. At the interview, Sanders asked defendant whether he had ever fired a weapon, which was a standard question for these interviews.

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Bluebook (online)
836 N.E.2d 1243, 163 Ohio App. 3d 132, 2005 Ohio 4243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-johnson-ohioctapp-2005.