State v. Lewis

2021 Ohio 2313
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in State v. Lewis. Read the opinion of the Court — 2019 Ohio 3031
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided July 8, 2021·No. 109937·Published

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Lewis, 2021-Ohio-2313.]

COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

STATE OF OHIO, :

Plaintiff-Appellee, : No. 109937 v. :

BOBBY LEWIS, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: July 8, 2021

Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-20-649116-A

Appearances:

Michael C. O’Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Poula Hanna, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Susan J. Moran, for appellant.

MARY J. BOYLE, A.J.:

Defendant-appellant, Bobby Lewis, appeals his convictions. He

raises two assignments of error for our review: 1. The trial court erred by denying appellant’s motion for acquittal pursuant to Crim.R. 29 when the state failed to submit sufficient evidence of appellant’s complicity.

2. Appellant’s convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Finding no merit to his assigned errors, we affirm.

I. Procedural History and Facts

In March 2020, Lewis was indicted on eight counts: Count 1,

aggravated robbery in violation of R.C. 2911.01(A)(1), a first-degree felony; Counts

2 and 3, robbery in violation of R.C. 2911.02(A)(2) and (3), second- and third-degree

felonies; Counts 4 and 5, having weapons while under disability in violation of R.C.

2923.12(A)(2) and (3), third-degree felonies; Count 6, theft in violation of R.C.

2913.02(A)(1), a fifth-degree felony; Count 7, identity fraud in violation of R.C.

2913.49(B)(2), a fifth-degree felony; and Count 8, telecommunications fraud in

violation of R.C. 2913.05(A), a fifth-degree felony. Counts 1 and 2 contained one-

and three-year firearm, notice of prior conviction, and repeat violent offender

specifications, and Count 3 contained one- and three-year firearm specifications.

Lewis pleaded not guilty to all charges and waived his right to a jury trial. The

following evidence was presented to the bench.

Maritza Rosa testified that on the night of January 4, 2020, she and

her husband had gone to a police charity event in “the Ohio City area” in Cleveland.

After the event, they were going to meet some family members at a local bar around

West 50th and Detroit Avenue, but she and her husband got into an argument on

the way there. She asked her husband to “stop the car” so she could walk home. She stated that they were about 10 minutes from their house at that point and she

believed it was “around midnight” when she got out of the car.

Rosa testified that as she was walking past the Michael J. Zone

Recreation Center (“Zone Rec Center”) on Lorain Road, she noticed a silver Dodge

Avenger pull into the parking lot. She thought that it was odd that someone was

going into the park “at such a late hour.” She noticed that the Dodge had temporary

tags on it.

As Rosa continued to walk, she felt a gun to the back of her head. The

perpetrator said, “Give me your purse, bitch.” She turned around, and “the gun was

then pointed to [her] mouth.” The gun reminded her of a police officer’s gun; it was

black with a silver barrel and was “pretty large” and “bulky.” She said that her uncle

is a Cleveland police officer, so she was familiar with police guns.

Rosa stated that the perpetrator was a male wearing a “white hoodie”

but he had it pulled “really tight” over his head so she could not see his face very

well. She described him as tall and “pretty slim.” She told police that he was either

“a light-skinned black man or possibly a Hispanic male.” She noticed that the

driver’s side door of the silver car was open, although she admitted that she did not

see what side of the vehicle he came from or went to. She also did not see if anyone

else was in the car. She could not identify Lewis before trial or in court.

Rosa stated that the man took her wallet and pushed her. As he began

to walk back towards the silver car, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket to attempt to take a photo of the license plate. The perpetrator saw her trying to do so,

however, and came back, “snatched” her phone, and hit her. She fell to the ground.

Rosa testified that she blacked out for some time after she fell to the

ground. When she woke up, she continued walking home. But when she felt blood

on the back of her head, she waived a car down and asked the driver to take her

somewhere safe. He drove her to a gas station nearby where he called 911 at 1:00

a.m. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

After she left the hospital, she locked her iPhone and turned on the

“location services in an attempt to figure out where [her] phone was.” She stated

that it was “pinging off of Western Avenue” between three homes. She also

contacted her credit card companies because she had been getting alerts that

someone had been using her credit cards. She found out where her cards had been

used as well as the dollar amounts. She created a spreadsheet of the information

and gave it to a detective. She said that her credit cards had been used at multiple

gas stations and for an online order at Finish Line.

Officer Joseph Matt of the Cleveland Police Department testified that

he arrived at the gas station after he received reports of a robbery. He said that Rosa

was already in the ambulance when he arrived. The state played his body camera

footage from that evening. In the video, Rosa described the male and his gun to

Officer Matt. He relayed the information over the police radio.

Sergeant Timothy Hassing of the RTA Police Department testified

that on the night of January 31, 2020, he was on routine patrol with another sergeant in an unmarked vehicle at a rapid station at the corner of West 98th Street and

Detroit Avenue. He said that he and his partner observed three males “cross over

from Detroit Avenue and wait at the front of the station” but they were “not utilizing

RTA services.” They then saw a “silver passenger car come into the bus lane,” pick

up the males, and then attempt to do a U-turn in the bus-only traffic area. The

vehicle then “attempted to exit the entrance only,” but turned around and exited

through a “bus-only exit rather than using the parking lot.”

Sergeant Hassing began to follow the vehicle. He noticed that the car

had a temporary tag on it that was blank. He and his partner initiated a traffic stop.

They approached the passenger side of the vehicle and spoke to the driver. They

noticed “several indicators,” including that the men were “sweating profusely” and

“tremoring.” They ordered the back-seat passengers to put their hands on the back

of the front seats.

Sergeant Hassing asked the driver if he had a valid driver’s license,

and the driver said he did not. Sergeant Hassing then asked the driver to step out of

the car. The driver had a state identification card on him, but it was not valid either.

Sergeant Hassing learned that Lewis was the driver. Lewis told him that the car

belonged to his girlfriend.

Sergeant Hassing stated that they were going to tow the vehicle

because Lewis did not have a driver’s license. They asked the other passengers to

get out of the vehicle and “Terry-patt[ed] them down for weapons.” One of the rear

passengers had a gun in his front coat pocket. Sergeant Hassing stated that he learned from another police officer

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State v. Lewis, 2021 Ohio 2313 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021).

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