State v. Luciano

2023 Ohio 3753

• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals
• Decided: October 16, 2023
• Docket: 9-23-24
• Status: Published

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Luciano, 2023-Ohio-3753.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT MARION COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO,

PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, CASE NO. 9-23-24

v.

ANTHONY LUCIANO, OPINION

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Appeal from Marion County Common Pleas Court Trial Court No. 22-CR-385

Judgment Affirmed

Date of Decision: October 16, 2023

APPEARANCES:

W. Joseph Edwards for Appellant

Martha Schultes for Appellee Case No. 9-23-24

WALDICK, J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Anthony Luciano (“Luciano”), brings this appeal

from the March 8, 2023, judgment of the Marion County Common Pleas Court

sentencing him to serve 36 months in prison after he was convicted by a jury of

Abduction in violation of R.C. 2905.02(A)(2), a third degree felony, and Assault in

violation of R.C. 2903.13(A), a first degree misdemeanor. On appeal, Luciano

argues that the trial court improperly limited cross-examination of the victim and

that his conviction for Abduction was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Background

{¶2} On July 6, 2022, Luciano was indicted for Abduction in violation of

R.C. 2905.02(A)(2), a third degree felony, Disrupting Public Services in violation

of R.C. 2909.04(A)(1), a fourth degree felony, and Assault in violation of R.C.

2903.13(A), a first degree misdemeanor. Luciano pled not guilty to the charges.

{¶3} On January 26, 2023, Luciano proceeded to a jury trial wherein he was

convicted of Abduction and Assault as indicted, but he was acquitted of Disrupting

Public Services. On March 8, 2023, Luciano was sentenced to serve 36 months in

prison on the Abduction charge, and a concurrent 180 days on the Assault charge.1

It is from this judgment that Luciano appeals, asserting the following assignments

of error for our review.

1 The trial court also terminated Luciano’s post-release control from a prior case and imposed an additional 643 days in prison, consecutive to the prison term on the Abduction charge.

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First Assignment of Error

Defendant-appellant was denied his right to cross examine the State’s key witness thereby violating his rights under the Ohio and Federal Constitutions.

Second Assignment of Error

The trial court erred in entering a finding of guilty because the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence thereby violating appellant’s rights under the Ohio and Federal Constitutions.

{¶4} For ease of discussion, we elect to address the assignments of error out

of the order in which they were raised.

{¶5} In his second assignment of error, Luciano argues that his conviction

for Abduction was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Standard of Review

{¶6} In reviewing whether a verdict was against the manifest weight of the

evidence, the appellate court sits as a “thirteenth juror” and examines the conflicting

testimony. State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 387, 1997-Ohio-52. In doing so,

this court must review the entire record, weigh the evidence and all of the reasonable

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

conflicts in the evidence, the factfinder “clearly lost its way and created such a

manifest miscarriage of justice that the conviction must be reversed and a new trial

ordered.” Id.

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{¶7} Nevertheless, a reviewing court must allow the trier-of-fact appropriate

discretion on matters relating to the credibility of the witnesses. State v. DeHass, 10

Ohio St.2d 230, 231 (1967). When applying the manifest-weight standard, “[o]nly

in exceptional cases, where the evidence ‘weighs heavily against the conviction,’

should an appellate court overturn the trial court’s judgment.” State v. Haller, 3d

Dist. Allen No. 1-11-34, 2012-Ohio-5233, ¶ 9, quoting State v. Hunter, 131 Ohio

St.3d 67, 2011-Ohio-6524, ¶ 119.

Controlling Statute

{¶8} Luciano challenges his conviction for Abduction in violation of R.C.

2905.02(A)(2), which reads as follows:

(A) No person, without privilege to do so, shall knowingly do any of the following:

***

(2) By force or threat, restrain the liberty of another person under circumstances that create a risk of physical harm to the victim or place the other person in fear[.]

Evidence Presented

{¶9} On June 30, 2022, Luciano was staying at the America’s Best Value Inn

in Marion with his girlfriend Alicia Z. While the couple was together at the motel,

Alicia received a text message from her uncle regarding Alicia’s “ex that was

currently in [] OSU fighting for his life, and [the ex] wanted to see [Alicia].” (Tr. at

103). Luciano read the text message and became angry, inciting an argument.

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{¶10} Alicia testified that she tried to leave the motel, but when she went to

grab her things, Luciano cornered her and “tackled” her onto the bed, wrestling her

for her keys. (Id. at 104). Alicia testified that Luciano put her in a chokehold until

she let go of her keys. When Alicia let go of her keys, Luciano released the

chokehold and Alicia went to the opposite side of the bed, asking Luciano to let her

leave. Alicia testified that Luciano told her she was not going anywhere.

{¶11} Alicia testified that when Luciano turned his back, she grabbed the

motel phone and tried to call 911, but Luciano pulled the cord out of the phone.

Alicia testified that she yelled for help but Luciano hit her in the face with a closed

fist. Afterward, Alicia testified that she fell back into a chair and cried. She asked

Luciano to let her go and eventually he let her leave.

{¶12} Alicia walked out of the motel room and Luciano followed her to her

car. Alicia testified that she called her uncle on her cell phone and Luciano tried to

take the phone out of her hand. Alicia indicated that there was another lady in the

parking lot during the interaction, so Alicia got the lady’s attention and indicated

she needed help and to call 911. Alicia and Luciano then got into Alicia’s car, and

Alicia told Luciano that the police were coming. Luciano got out of the vehicle and

went into the motel room, locked the door and blocked it with a chair.

{¶13} Law enforcement officers responded to the scene based on a “hang

up” call and another call indicating a man had assaulted a woman. The officers met

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with Alicia in the parking lot. Alicia was observed to have some scratch marks on

her arm and a slightly “raised” area under her right eye. Photographs were taken of

the injuries.

{¶14} After Luciano would not answer the door to the motel room, the motel

manager assisted law enforcement with gaining access to the room. Luciano denied

anything occurring beyond an argument. One officer indicated that the motel room

looked like there had been a slight disturbance.

{¶15} The officers obtained surveillance footage from the motel, but the

footage did not show anything that occurred inside the room itself. Luciano stressed

that in the video, when Alicia exited the motel room, she did not look fearful and he

was not controlling her movements. However, the video did appear to show Luciano

attempt to grab the phone out of Alicia’s hand in the parking lot.

Analysis

{¶16} At the outset of our review, we note that Luciano’s stated assignment

of error challenges only the manifest weight of the evidence; however, in the body

of his brief he also cites the standard of review for “sufficiency of the evidence.”

Luciano does acknowledge that the concepts of sufficiency and weight of the

evidence are categorically different, thus given his stated assignment of error, and

the actual argument in his brief, we will review only his challenge to the weight of

the evidence.

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{¶17} In challenging his Abduction conviction, Luciano summarily argues

that we should review the evidence because while “[t]he evidence was clear that

Appellant assaulted [Alicia] * * * Appellant believes that an issue exists whether

his conduct rose to the level of abduction.” (Appt.’s Br. at 9). We disagree.

{¶18} The evidence affirmatively established that Luciano had no privilege

to restrain Alicia’s liberty. Further, Alicia testified that when she attempted to leave

the motel room, Luciano tackled her and put her in a chokehold until she dropped

her keys. Thus he acted by force and restrained her liberty.

{¶19} In addition, Alicia had scratches on her from the altercation, going

beyond a risk of physical harm to actual physical harm. Moreover, Alicia also

testified that she was afraid of Luciano when he was restraining her liberty on the

bed. Thus all of the elements of Abduction were satisfied here. See State v. Tvaroch,

11th Dist. Trumbull No. 2012-T-0008, 2012-Ohio-5836, ¶ 54-57; State v. Grieshop,

2d Dist. Montgomery No. 28481, 2020-Ohio-392, ¶ 18.

{¶20} In sum, we do not find that this is one of the rare cases where the

evidence weighs heavily against conviction or that the jury created such a manifest

miscarriage of justice that this trial must be reversed.2 See Haller, supra. Therefore,

Luciano’s second assignment of error is overruled.

2 Although Luciano suggested at trial that he did not “abduct” Alicia, the actual elements of the offense require restraining the liberty of another, not moving a victim from one place to another as Luciano seems to suggest.

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{¶21} In his first assignment of error, Luciano argues that the trial court

abused its discretion by determining that Luciano would not be able to present

evidence that Alicia gave him substantial monetary gifts while he was incarcerated

and awaiting trial.

{¶22} A trial court has broad discretion with respect to the admission of

evidence. State v. Conway, 109 Ohio St.3d 412, 2006-Ohio-2815, ¶ 37. Thus we

will not disturb a trial court’s evidentiary rulings absent an abuse of discretion that

produces material prejudice to the aggrieved party. State v. Gipson, 3d Dist. Allen

No. 1-15-51, 2016-Ohio-994, ¶ 48. An abuse of discretion is more than an error of

judgment; it means that the trial court’s determination was unreasonable, arbitrary,

or unconscionable. State v. Adams, 62 Ohio St.2d 151, 157 (1980).

{¶23} After the jury was selected but prior to the presentation of evidence,

the State effectively made a motion in limine seeking to prevent Luciano from cross-

examining Alicia on the fact that Alicia had sent Luciano as many as 19 care

packages while Luciano was incarcerated and awaiting trial. The State argued that

the evidence would not be relevant to the actual charges at issue.

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{¶24} Defense counsel contended that the evidence was relevant to disprove

whether Alicia was in fear at the time of the alleged abduction. Defense counsel also

contended that the evidence could be used for impeachment purposes.

{¶25} The trial court disagreed with defense counsel, stating,

I don’t see how what happened after the fact, especially in that sense, buying him a meal or putting money on the books or whatever happened is relevant to the incident. I mean, if something changes with her testimony, you know, that makes it become relevant. But at this point, I’m trying to figure out how that can be relevant. I don’t think it is.

(Tr. at 99). After some further argument on the issue, the trial court ruled that the

evidence was not relevant, but the trial court indicated that the issue could be

revisited depending on Alicia’s actual testimony.

{¶26} Importantly, during Alicia’s testimony, she was not questioned about

her current relationship with Luciano or the gifts she provided him while he was

incarcerated. As the trial court’s ruling prior to trial was interlocutory and the issue

was not revisited during Alicia’s actual testimony, this issue is generally considered

waived for purposes of appeal. See State v. Grubb, 28 Ohio St.3d 199 (1986), at

syllabus; State v. Brown, 38 Ohio St.3d 305, 311-312 (1988).

{¶27} However, even if the issue was not waived, we find no abuse of

discretion with the trial court’s determination given that Alicia’s mental state

months after the incident had no bearing on her mental state at the time she was

being physically restrained. Moreover, as stated previously, fear did not need to be

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proven since Alicia was physically harmed, so even if the trial court did somehow

abuse its discretion, we find no prejudicial error here. For all of these reasons,

Luciano’s first assignment of error is overruled.

Conclusion

{¶28} Having found no error prejudicial to Luciano in the particulars

assigned and argued, his assignments of error are overruled and the judgment of the

Marion County Common Pleas Court is affirmed.

MILLER, P.J. and ZIMMERMAN, J., concur.

/jlr

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