State v. Jordan, Unpublished Decision (6-30-2006)

2006 Ohio 3425
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 2006
DocketNo. 2005-T-0049.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2006 Ohio 3425 (State v. Jordan, Unpublished Decision (6-30-2006)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Jordan, Unpublished Decision (6-30-2006), 2006 Ohio 3425 (Ohio Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION
{¶ 1} Appellant, Delmar D. Jordan, appeals from the April 7, 2005 judgment entry of the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas, entering a guilty verdict against him and sentencing him to five years in prison.

{¶ 2} On November 21, 2003, appellant was indicted by the Trumbull County Grand Jury on one count: felonious assault, a felony of the second degree, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2) and (D), with a firearm specification, in violation of R.C.2941.145. At his arraignment, he entered a plea of not guilty to the charge.

{¶ 3} On January 22, 2004, appellant was charged with another count, by way of superseding indictment: having weapons while under a disability, a felony of the fifth degree, in violation of R.C. 2923.13(A)(3) and (C). Appellant also entered a plea of not guilty to this charge.

{¶ 4} On January 17, 2005, appellant withdrew his not guilty plea with respect to the count of having weapons under a disability. He entered a plea of guilty, which the trial court accepted.

{¶ 5} The case proceeded to trial on the remaining count, felonious assault with a firearm specification. A jury trial was held on January 18, 19, and 20, 2005. The following facts were revealed at trial.

{¶ 6} Tara Patterson ("Patterson") testified first for appellee, the state of Ohio. Patterson stated that she went with Maurice and Marvin Chaney ("Maurice" and "Marvin") to the Golden Stallion bar on the night of October 28, 2003. She indicated that Maurice had an attitude. She asked him what was wrong, but he would not tell her. Then, "all of a sudden he jumps on the counter in front of Delmar and he's in his face." She testified that appellant was calm and said that he did not want any trouble. Appellant bought Maurice a drink and Maurice knocked it off the bar. The next thing she knew, appellant and Maurice were "standing up in each other's faces and having some words." At that point, one of the bartenders unplugged the jukebox and made everyone in the bar leave.

{¶ 7} After that, Patterson stated that she left the Golden Stallion bar with Marvin and Maurice. They went to another bar in Niles. When they left there, Patterson said that the cell phone rang and Maurice answered it. When he hung up, he told her to go to some house on Tod Avenue. She stated that he wanted to "conversate" with appellant.

{¶ 8} When they arrived at the house on Tod Avenue, Maurice and Marvin got out of the car and Maurice went very quickly toward the house. At that point, Patterson stated that she was talking to Keisha Williams ("Williams"), who had come to the side of the car, and when she looked up again, she saw something silver and thought it was a gun. Then she heard a gunshot and Maurice ran over to the car and said that he had been shot. She said that it looked like the person who had the gun was appellant. She stated that appellant was walking toward the car holding the gun so that you could see it. She sped out at that point and took Maurice to the hospital. She testified that she later identified appellant in a line up, which she also did during the trial.

{¶ 9} She stated on cross-examination that appellant never hit Maurice at the bar or tried to go after him in any way. She also testified that when they got to the house on Tod Avenue, that Maurice took off his shirt before he got to appellant. When asked what that meant to her, she stated that he wanted to fight. On re-direct examination, she stated that she meant fist fight, not fight with a weapon. She also testified that Maurice did not have a weapon of any kind on him.

{¶ 10} Investigator Edward Airhart ("Investigator Airhart"), of the Warren Township Police Department ("WTPD"), testified next for appellee. He stated that he has been in law enforcement for twenty-one years. He investigated the crime scene and collected six items as evidence, including three PMC nine millimeter Luger rounds, two CCI .380 auto casings, and a broken Heineken bottle. None of the evidence was sent to state crime labs.

{¶ 11} Following Investigator Airhart, appellee put Lieutenant Don Bishop ("Lieutenant Bishop") of the WTPD on the stand. He testified that he had been with WTPD for over twenty years and prior to that, he had been in law enforcement for over twenty years. He is currently an administrative lieutenant. He testified that on the night of October 28, 2003, he interviewed Patterson, Matrice Johnson ("Johnson"), Marvin, and Williams. He stated that he did not interview Maurice that evening because he was transported to another hospital due to the seriousness of his injuries. He also indicated that appellant gave him a voluntary written statement first and then he videotaped his statement. At trial, Lieutenant Bishop read appellant's voluntary statement into the record and then the videotaped statement was played for the jury. Lieutenant Bishop also identified pictures that he had taken of Maurice's wounds from the gunshot and stitches from his subsequent surgery.

{¶ 12} In his voluntary statement given to the police, appellant explained that while he was at the Golden Stallion bar having drinks with friends, Maurice and Marvin came into the bar. They said to him, "`fuck with a broke nigger now[.]'" Maurice wanted appellant to go back by the pool tables to talk. Appellant stated that he said to Maurice, "I aint fucking with you right now because you be on V's [valium] too much. And that's when he started flipping out." Appellant indicated that he bought Maurice a "double henny" and that Maurice knocked it off the bar. He said that when he got up to leave, Maurice followed him, and that he was yelling at him. Appellant then left the bar and went to his friend, Tone's, house. While he was still sitting in his van, Maurice came running up to him and hit him, yelling obscenities at him. Appellant said, "[h]e could see the gun, he still hit me."

{¶ 13} In his videotaped statement, appellant reiterated what he said in his written statement, with some additional details. He stated that when he was at Tone's house on Tod Avenue, that he was getting ready to leave when Maurice and Marvin came. He said that he was sitting in his van with the door open. Maurice and Marvin came running up to him without their shirts on, that he had his "piece" right there, and that they could not have missed it because it was chrome and black. He also indicated that he had the gun with him at the bar. He said that he turned his head and Maurice hit him once or twice and then he shot him. He stated that he fired the gun twice before it jammed and would not shoot anymore. He indicated that he had feared for his life and that Maurice was upset because he believed that appellant cheated him out of some money.

{¶ 14} Appellant did not present any additional evidence or witnesses besides what was proffered by appellee.

{¶ 15} On January 21, 2005, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the felonious assault charge and the firearm specification. The jury found by way of special verdict that appellant did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence the lesser included offense of aggravated assault or that appellant acted in self-defense.1

{¶ 16} On January 27, 2005, appellant filed two motions: one, a motion for a new trial pursuant to Crim.R.

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Bluebook (online)
2006 Ohio 3425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jordan-unpublished-decision-6-30-2006-ohioctapp-2006.