State v. Mayes, Unpublished Decision (4-22-2004)

2004 Ohio 2014
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 22, 2004
DocketNo. 82592.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 2004 Ohio 2014 (State v. Mayes, Unpublished Decision (4-22-2004)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Mayes, Unpublished Decision (4-22-2004), 2004 Ohio 2014 (Ohio Ct. App. 2004).

Opinions

JOURNAL ENTRY and OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Peter Mayes appeals from his convictions and the subsequent sentences imposed for two counts of attempted forcible rape, one count of forcible rape, and one count of gross sexual imposition. Appellant further challenges the trial court's classification of him as a sexual predator.

{¶ 2} In his five assignments of error presented by and through counsel, appellant makes the following assertions: his convictions for attempted rape and gross sexual imposition were based upon insufficient evidence; the trial court improperly denied his motion for a mistrial after the jury heard testimony concerning his prior conviction for robbery; the trial court's imposition of consecutive sentences upon him is unsupported in the record; the total sentence imposed by the trial court is inconsistent with sentences imposed on other offenders; and, the determination he is a sexual predator lacks adequate evidentiary support.

{¶ 3} Appellant also has submitted an appellate brief pro se in which he further asserts trial counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance.

{¶ 4} Following a thorough review of the record, this court disagrees with all of appellant's assertions. Consequently, his convictions and sentences, together with the trial court's classification of him as a sexual predator, are affirmed.

{¶ 5} Appellant's convictions result from his original relationship with the victim's mother "MJ,"1 a registered nurse. Appellant, who was forty-four years old at the time, had become acquainted with MJ in late 1999, just after her separation from her husband, AW, the father of her two children,2 a boy aged fifteen and a girl, R, aged thirteen.3

{¶ 6} Three months after AW left the household, appellant moved in and began an intimate relationship with MJ. For nearly a year thereafter, appellant was one of MJ's children's male authority figures. Appellant shared an interest in small animals with R; both of them kept as pets a number of hamsters and gerbils.

{¶ 7} By July 2001, MJ had broken off her increasingly stormy relationship with appellant, become involved with another man, and moved with her children to his home in Wadsworth, Ohio. She and appellant, however, shared mutual friends. Consequently, after her move, MJ made some effort to be amicable toward appellant.

{¶ 8} Appellant appeared to reciprocate her effort. In late 2001, knowing MJ was unemployed, he offered her a job painting with him for a few days. He also invited MJ to see his new apartment in Rocky River, Ohio.

{¶ 9} During all this time, MJ also cooperated with AW in giving him visitation with the children. MJ eventually obtained a nursing position in Wadsworth. Subsequently, she and AW arranged for him to take the children to his home in North Olmsted, Ohio on alternate weekends. These generally were the weekends MJ was scheduled for work.

{¶ 10} Through appellant's occasional contact with MJ, he became aware of this arrangement. He telephoned MJ in February 2002 and expressed a wish to continue his relationship with her children. Appellant suggested he could do so partially by acting as a "facilitator" of MJ's visitation arrangement for the children with AW. He had time, transportation, and an apartment located near AW's place of employment.

{¶ 11} MJ cautioned appellant that the schedule was flexible. When she mentioned that sometimes her son decided at the last minute to remain home, appellant indicated he would not take the decision personally, since he had become especially fond of R due to their shared interest. He persuaded MJ to try the arrangement.

{¶ 12} Appellant's first weekend as "facilitator" seemed to proceed normally, although, as MJ had predicted, her son decided to stay home rather than to visit AW's house. Appellant went to Wadsworth, picked up only R, and returned to the Cleveland area. Since AW was working that night, R spent it at appellant's apartment. The following morning, appellant transferred R to AW for the remainder of the weekend.

{¶ 13} The second time appellant acted as "facilitator" occurred on the weekend of March 22, 2002. Since MJ's son had obtained two tickets to a concert for that Friday evening, it was decided that AW would pick the boy up at appellant's apartment, the two of them would go to the event, and the following morning appellant would drive R to AW's house. The arrangement proceeded as planned. AW noticed that R seemed somewhat withdrawn that day and the next, but she did not mention any distress. He returned the children to MJ on Sunday evening.

{¶ 14} R went to school the next morning as usual. Before school had ended for the day, MJ had been approached by Jeremy Staats, a young man whom R regarded as a "surrogate" older brother. Staats told MJ that R twice had confided in him, and that in view of the information she gave, he could no longer keep the confidence. He indicated that, upon her return home the previous evening, R disclosed appellant had sexually assaulted her for the second time.

{¶ 15} After questioning Staats, MJ privately confronted R. R at that time told MJ that, both times she had visited appellant's apartment, he had placed his fingers inside her vagina and had unsuccessfully tried to put his penis into her vagina. MJ immediately took R to the hospital.

{¶ 16} Once there, R described what had occurred first to Donna Abbott, a nurse practitioner. After her physical examination, R described the incidents again to Wendy Facchini, a social worker. R's descriptions to each person were consistent, and she indicated appellant had taken similar actions during each incident.

{¶ 17} As R described the incidents, appellant waited until she had dropped off to sleep before waking her by removing the garments she wore on her lower extremities. While he pushed aside any of R's attempts to disengage herself, the first time appellant placed her hand on his penis and "made her play with it," then unsuccessfully tried to place his penis into her. The second time, he placed some of his fingers into her vagina and moved them around, as if to stretch its area; he then applied some type of lubricating ointment or oil to her before attempting, but again failing, to penetrate her vagina with his penis. Both times, he replaced her clothing, and "cried" while he "begged" her not to tell anyone what he had done and "promised" he would not do it again.

{¶ 18} Facchini notified the Rocky River police department. That same night, two officers drove to Wadsworth to obtain items from the backpack R had used as an overnight bag. MJ noticed R's diary was missing even as she handed over the underclothing R had brought home. R had told both MJ and Staats that on March 22, she had recorded the first incident in her diary upon her arrival at appellant's apartment, but that she could not find the diary before she left appellant's apartment on March 23.

{¶ 19} Appellant subsequently was indicted on six counts. The first three related to the March incident, charging him with: (1) attempted rape, R.C. 2923.02/2907.02(A)(2); (2) rape, R.C.2907.02(A)(2); and, (3) kidnapping, R.C.

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Bluebook (online)
2004 Ohio 2014, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mayes-unpublished-decision-4-22-2004-ohioctapp-2004.