State v. McClain

2011 Ohio 1623
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 30, 2011
Docket10-CA-10
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2011 Ohio 1623 (State v. McClain) 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. McClain, 2011 Ohio 1623 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. McClain, 2011-Ohio-1623.]

COURT OF APPEALS GUERNSEY COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

STATE OF OHIO : JUDGES: : : Hon. W. Scott Gwin, P.J. Plaintiff-Appellee : Hon. John W. Wise, J. : Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, J. -vs- : : Case No. 10-CA-10 DOUGLAS MCCLAIN : : : Defendant-Appellant : OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Appeal from the Guernsey County Court of Common Pleas Case No. 2009-CR-0097

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED

DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: March 30, 2011

APPEARANCES:

For Plaintiff-Appellee: For Defendant-Appellant:

DANIEL G. PADDEN 0038781 GEORGE URBAN 0062725 Guernsey County Prosecutor 116 Cleveland Ave. N., Ste. 808 139 W. Eighth St. Canton, Ohio 44702 Cambridge, Ohio 43725 [Cite as State v. McClain, 2011-Ohio-1623.]

Delaney, J.

{¶1} Defendant-Appellant Douglas McClain appeals the judgment of the

Guernsey County Court of Common Pleas, convicting him of one count of murder, an

unclassified felony, in violation of R.C. 2903.02, with a firearm specification in violation

of R.C. 2941.145.

{¶2} In August, 2008, Appellant met Candace O’Neill. Although O’Neill had her

own residence, she moved into Appellant’s trailer, which was owned by his parents. In

December, 2008, O’Neill began expressing concerns about Appellant’s behavior, stating

that he was acting secretive about where he went. Appellant allegedly told O’Neill that

she needed to move out of his home. On the evening of December 27, 2008, O’Neill

spoke to her daughter, Meghan. On December 27, O’Neill, who had a college degree in

psychology, asked Meghan to obtain paperwork so that O’Neill could apply for a license

to be a childcare provider in Summit County.

{¶3} O’Neill’s friend, Kate Hillman, stated that she spoke with O’Neill at

approximately 2:00 p.m. on the day that O’Neill died, December 28, 2008, and that

O’Neill stated that her relationship with Appellant was not going well. Hillman stated

that she told O’Neill that if the relationship was not working out, O’Neill should walk to

the nearby home of O’Neill’s sister, Michelle and telephone Hillman when she arrived at

Michelle’s house. O’Neill indicated that she would, however, she never called Hillman

back.

{¶4} On December 28, 2008, at 4:35 p.m., Appellant called 911, stating that he

had just been shot. According to dispatcher, Christine Galbreth, Appellant was difficult

to understand on the phone. Appellant told the dispatcher that the person who shot him Guernsey County, Case No. 10-CA-10 3

had died. When the dispatcher asked who had shot him, he stated that he needed help

and hung up. Appellant then called his mother and told her “goodbye.”

{¶5} When authorities arrived, Appellant was pacing around the outside of the

trailer where he lived. He stated that his girlfriend shot him and he shot her back. The

emergency medical squad arrived at 4:39 p.m., and observed that Appellant had a

through and through gunshot wound on the right side of his chest.

{¶6} Despite his injury, Appellant insisted on going to the backyard to say

goodbye to his pet wolves and refused assistance getting into the ambulance. He

refused assistance in removing his hoodie and removed his own sweatshirt in the

ambulance. Appellant was transported to the hospital with two fractured ribs, a

hematoma on his lung, and was placed in intensive care. He later left the hospital

against medical advice. Subsequently, he returned to the hospital and was readmitted

with a partially collapsed lung and a pneumothorax. Dr. Clark Leslie, Appellant’s

treating physician, testified that it was possible that Appellant’s gunshot wound was self-

inflicted.

{¶7} As sheriff’s deputies searched the inside of the home on December 28,

2008, they discovered the body of Candace O’Neill lying in the trailer between the

kitchen and the entry to the master bedroom. Her body was lying face up with her feet

facing the front door. The coroner discovered a .38 caliber bullet entry wound was in

the middle of her back. The coroner discovered that the bullet had traveled in a slightly

downward trajectory and exited her body in the middle of the front of her chest. The

bullet then struck a portable, folded-up treadmill near her body, before stopping under a

living room chair in front of O’Neill’s body. There was minimal blood around O’Neill, as Guernsey County, Case No. 10-CA-10 4

the coroner testified that a large amount of blood was pooled in her abdominal cavity,

likely due to the fact that her body had been turned over after being shot. DNA testing

did not exclude Appellant as a contributor to the blood found on O’Neill’s neck, the

kitchen floor or the treadmill.

{¶8} The coroner testified that when O’Neill was shot, she was facing away

from the kitchen and toward the front door. Deputies found the .38 caliber pistol on the

kitchen counter and the .45 caliber pistol on the kitchen table in the corner of the kitchen

furthest away from O’Neill’s body, just to the left of the back door of the residence.

{¶9} O’Neill’s clothing was tested for gunshot residue and it was determined

that when Appellant shot her, he was between one and three feet away from her. Both

Appellant and O’Neill tested positive for gunshot residue on their hands. There was

testimony that the gunshot residue on O’Neill’s hand could have been deposited there

based on the proximity of her body to the gun from when Appellant shot her.

{¶10} Guernsey County Deputy Sheriff Jason May testified that there was blood

in the kitchen, on the kitchen floor, in both bathrooms, and on both toilets. Officer Curtis

Braniger, who arrived three hours after the shooting, testified that there was so much

blood in the residence, that had he collected it all, he would still be collecting it on the

day of trial. May also testified that there was marijuana in the toilets and that the police

also found paraphernalia used to cultivate marijuana in the back bedroom. They also

located a black gun holster in the master bedroom on top of a clothing armoire, which

had blood evidence on it, that did not exclude the blood of Appellant.

{¶11} May located a spent .45 caliber shell casing to a .45 caliber handgun

under the kitchen table and located the .45 caliber bullet in the wall near the kitchen Guernsey County, Case No. 10-CA-10 5

table. The bullet retrieved from the wall was determined to have been fired by the gun

located in Appellant’s residence.

{¶12} In the months following O’Neill’s death, Appellant told one person that

O’Neill shot him in the kitchen and that he shot her while she leaned over him as he lay

prone on the kitchen floor. Such a scenario was refuted by the testimony of the

coroner. Appellant told two other people that he shot O’Neill in the chest and then shot

himself to make it look like self-defense.

{¶13} In March, 2009, Thomas Snyder, Jr. met Appellant when Appellant was

introduced to Synder’s father, Thomas Snyder, Sr., who killed himself on September 28,

2009.

{¶14} The junior Snyder testified that in June, 2009, Appellant was at the Snyder

residence drinking whiskey and beer. He stated that Appellant told him and his father

that Appellant shot himself after he shot O’Neill in the chest while she was in the

kitchen. Snyder further testified that Appellant stated that he tried to shoot himself in

the rib, but accidentally “took out his lung.” Snyder also testified that Thomas Snyder,

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2011 Ohio 1623, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mcclain-ohioctapp-2011.