State v. Marbury, Unpublished Decision (4-9-2004)

2004 Ohio 1817
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 9, 2004
DocketC.A. Case No. 19226.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 2004 Ohio 1817 (State v. Marbury, Unpublished Decision (4-9-2004)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Marbury, Unpublished Decision (4-9-2004), 2004 Ohio 1817 (Ohio Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant, Cedric Marbury, appeals from his convictionfor felonious assault and kidnaping, both with gunspecifications, and the resulting terms of imprisonment the trialcourt imposed. {¶ 2} Evidence which the State introduced at trialdemonstrates that on the afternoon of October 13, 1999, as TerryBell drove down Haney Road in Trotwood on his way to the DairyMart located at the corner of Wolf and Haney, he observedDefendant inside his garage. Bell stopped and called out toDefendant, and the two men talked about the ongoing feud betweenDefendant and Bell's family. Following this conversation, Bellwent on the Dairy Mart where he purchased an item for a cook-outat the home of Jimmy Keith. {¶ 3} After Keith informed Bell that he had purchased thewrong item for their cookout, Bell returned to the Dairy Mart. AsBell drove past Defendant's house, Defendant ran out into themiddle of the street and flagged Bell down. When Bell stopped,Defendant approached the vehicle, reached inside, and turned offthe engine. As Bell started to exit the vehicle, Defendantreached behind his back and pulled a gun, then pointed it insidethe vehicle and shot Bell. The bullet struck Bell's spine,paralyzing him from the waist down. Defendant then punched Belland told him to move over in the seat because he was going tokidnap and kill him. {¶ 4} Defendant got into the driver's seat of Bells' vehicle,started the car, and began to drive away. Bell and Defendant thenfought over control of the car. At the intersection of Haney andWolf, in front of the Dairy Mart, Bell was able to force the carover into the curb. Bell then crawled out the passenger door andfell onto the street, where he tried unsuccessfully to stoppassing motorists. Meanwhile, Defendant exited the vehicle andbegan hitting and kicking Bell. {¶ 5} The manager of the Dairy Mart, Charles Eagle, and hisemployee, Rhiannon Vonada, notice a car parked at an odd anglenear the intersection, and two men fighting. They also observedBell fall out of the passenger door onto the street. Eagle andVonada recognized Bell as a man who had been in their storeearlier. Eagle and Vonada watched Bell drag himself to the centerof the street and saw Defendant pursue him and stomp and kickBell as he lay in the street. Eagle called police and then wentoutside and told Defendant, Marbury, whom he recognized as one ofhis regular customers, that police were on their way. Vonadaobserved Defendant walk over to the car, retrieve something fromthe passenger floor, stick it in his front waistband underneathhis shirt, and then walk away down Haney Road. Eagle remainedwith Bell until police and paramedics arrived. {¶ 6} Defendant's evidence portrays a much different versionof events, suggesting that Bell was the initial aggressor andinitiated the confrontation with Defendant. {¶ 7} According to Defendant's evidence, he was in his garagewhen Bell parked his vehicle in the street across the bottom orapron of Defendant's driveway. Bell argued with and threatenedDefendant. As Defendant walked down his driveway toward Bell'svehicle, Bell pulled a gun and pointed it at Defendant, whoresponded by yelling "gun" and jumping into the vehicle on top ofBell in order to protect himself. Bell and Defendant physicallystruggled for control of the gun as the vehicle slowly rolleddown the street. During that struggle the gun discharged. The twomen continued fighting until Defendant finally gained controlover the gun at the intersection of Haney and Wolf. Defendantthen exited the vehicle and walked back home. {¶ 8} Defendant was indicted on one count of feloniousassault, R.C. 2903.11(A)(2), and one count of kidnaping, R.C.2905.01(B)(1). Both charges included a gun specification. R.C.2941.145. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pled no contestto the felonious assault charge and was found guilty. Inexchange, the State dismissed the kidnaping charge and both gunspecifications. Prior to sentencing, however, Defendant moved towithdraw his plea. Following a hearing, the trial court grantedDefendant's motion and allowed him to withdraw his plea. {¶ 9} This matter proceeded to a jury trial. At the conclusionof the trial the jury found Defendant guilty on both charges andthe gun specifications. The trial court sentenced Defendant toconcurrent prison terms of seven years for felonious assault andfive years for kidnaping. The trial court merged the two gunspecifications and imposed one additional and consecutive threeyear prison term, for a total sentence of ten years. {¶ 10} Defendant timely appealed to this court. His appellatecounsel filed an Anders brief, Anders v. California (1967),386 U.S. 738, claiming that he could not find any meritoriousissues for appellate review. We concluded, however, that at leastone potential issue for appeal was not frivolous, and accordinglywe set aside the Anders brief and appointed new appellatecounsel for Defendant. State v. Marbury (June 20, 1003),Montgomery App. No. 19226. This matter is now before the courtfor disposition on the merits of Defendant's appeal.

FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
{¶ 11} "The appellant was deprived of due process of law and afair trial by the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury onthe issue of self-defense." {¶ 12} Defendant argued that he acted in self-defense when hetried to take Bell's gun away from him. If the jury agreed, thefinding would relieve Defendant of criminal liability on thecharge of felonious assault arising from the gunshot injury Bellsuffered when, according to Defendant, the gun accidentallydischarged in the course of their struggle. {¶ 13} The burden of proof for an affirmative defense is thepreponderance of evidence standard, and the burden is on the

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Krupp
2025 Ohio 5162 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2025)
State v. Moreland
2024 Ohio 22 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2024)
State v. Hodge
2022 Ohio 1780 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
State v. Reed
2021 Ohio 858 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2021)
State v. Stutler
2020 Ohio 4562 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
State v. Moore
2020 Ohio 4321 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
State v. Bell
2014 Ohio 663 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
State v. Hunter
2011 Ohio 4669 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2011)
Ratliff v. Brannum, 2008-Ca-05 (12-19-2008)
2008 Ohio 6732 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2008)
State v. Carman, 90512 (8-28-2008)
2008 Ohio 4368 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2008)
State v. Smith, 2006 Ca 68 (6-15-2007)
2007 Ohio 2969 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2007)
City of Cleveland v. Welms
863 N.E.2d 1125 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2006)
State v. Jeffries, Unpublished Decision (2-21-2006)
2006 Ohio 828 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2006)
State v. Siler
843 N.E.2d 863 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2005)
State v. Fritz
837 N.E.2d 823 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2005)
State v. Florence, Unpublished Decision (8-19-2005)
2005 Ohio 4508 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2005)
State v. Banks, Unpublished Decision (12-7-2004)
2004 Ohio 6522 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Nelson, Unpublished Decision (11-19-2004)
2004 Ohio 6153 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Kemper, Unpublished Decision (11-12-2004)
2004 Ohio 6055 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2004 Ohio 1817, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-marbury-unpublished-decision-4-9-2004-ohioctapp-2004.