State v. McCollum

2023 Ohio 69
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided January 12, 2023·No. 111370·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

STATE OF OHIO, :

Plaintiff-Appellee, :

No. 111370

v. :

CARLOS J. MCCOLLUM, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED

RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: January 12, 2023

Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-21-661744-A

Appearances:

Michael C. O’Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Kevin R. Filiatraut, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Edward M. Heindel, for appellant.

LISA B. FORBES, J.:

Carlos J. McCollum (“McCollum”) appeals his convictions for aggravated murder and other associated offenses. After reviewing the facts of the case and pertinent law, we affirm the trial court’s decision.

I. Facts and Procedural History This case involves the July 17, 2021 murder of Kenneth Marks (“Marks”). The facts of this case are undisputed. McCollum killed Marks by shooting him in the left shoulder and chest area and beating his face and head with a claw hammer.

On July 26, 2021, McCollum was charged with a ten-count indictment including one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, one count of having weapons while under disability, two counts of aggravated robbery, and two counts of robbery, along with firearm, repeat violent offender, and notice of prior conviction specifications. The case proceeded to trial, and on March 11, 2022, McCollum was found guilty as indicted. On March 15, 2022, the court sentenced McCollum to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 47- 49.5 years. II. Assignments of Error On appeal, McCollum raises six assignments of error for our review.

1. The trial court erred when it denied McCollum’s motion for a mistrial after McCollum’s outburst.

2. The trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury to disregard McCollum’s outburst.

3. The trial court erred when it required the parties to exercise their peremptory challenges without the prospective jurors being present in the jury box.

4. The convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence.

5. The convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence.

6. The Reagan Tokes act is unconstitutional because it violates the Due Process Clauses of the United States and Ohio constitutions, the separation of powers doctrine embodied in the Ohio Constitution, and the right to a jury trial as guaranteed by the United States and Ohio Constitution.

III. Law and Analysis A. McCollum’s Outburst During the prosecutor’s opening statement at trial, he said the following to the jury: “[Y]ou’ll hear Ernest Hill and Jesse [sic] Jones testify [that McCollum] told [them], give me your phones, don’t call 911, don’t do that, and said to them, pointing at * * * Marks, I heard he, referring to * * * Marks, was telling people he raped me.”

McCollum interrupted the prosecutor and stated the following in open court:

M****r f*****g truth. As God [i]s my witness. Kill me now. That man sodomized me. You think I woke up and killed him for nothing? You think I killed him for nothing? Not my life, my career, my kids, my house, my home, my job. You think I did that for nothing? That’s my little cousin. I know that boy for 36 years.

***

I just woke up and killed him for nothing? Huh? For nothing? I did that, right? Huh?

And you know me, Mr. Morris. You know me. You know me. You know them. You arrested them many of times.

After this outburst, the judge had McCollum temporarily removed from the courtroom to calm down. When the proceedings reconvened, defense counsel moved for a mistrial, stating the following on the record in the jury’s presence: “Unfortunately during the outburst in the presence of the jury my client made some admissions, a lot of admissions, that cannot by unheard by the jury. And his demeanor exhibited a lot of anger and things that all will prejudice him in any proceedings going forward with this jury. Therefore, we ask the court to declare a mistrial.”

The court denied McCollum’s request and noted that “these were opening statements. And the court will instruct the jury and we’ll proceed.” The court then instructed the jury as follows:

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are going to continue with opening statements * * *. Please remember, as I stated to you before, that you are to listen to the evidence from the witness stand, not from the parties, not from opening statements made by counsel. Your attention is to be drawn to the evidence that will be presented in this court through witnesses, direct evidence and stipulations as has been explained to you already. So please be mindful of that in your deliberations. And the information that you are to take in to consider comes from those sources.

The next morning, prior to the continuation of witness testimony, the following colloquy took place between a juror and the court:

JUROR: Judge * * *, I do have a question. I have a question about testimony. I need some clarification. I think I know the answer, but I’m not sure.

So what I was wondering is, if the defendant’s remarks made yesterday were considered to be testimony?

THE COURT: I appreciate your question. As I instructed everyone yesterday, the testimony is to come from the witness stand, okay, and the exhibits and any stipulations that are received. That is the evidence that you would use for your deliberations.

Based on this juror’s question, McCollum renewed his motion for a mistrial. The court again denied his motion, finding that it “has no concerns that this jury isn’t doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing and that is to be listening to the evidence that comes from the witness stand.”

1. Motion for a Mistrial

In his first assignment of error, McCollum argues that the trial court should have granted his motion for a mistrial after his outburst before the jury. “The grant[ing] or denial of an order of mistrial lies within the sound discretion of the trial court. * * * Moreover, mistrials need be declared only when the ends of justice so require and a fair trial is no longer possible.” State v. Garner, 74 Ohio St.3d 49, 59, 656 N.E.2d 623 (1995).

A “trial court must determine, as a question of fact, whether an emotional outburst in a murder trial deprived the defendant of a fair trial by improperly influencing the jury.” State v. Scott, 101 Ohio St.3d 31, 2004-Ohio-10, 800 N.E.2d 1133, ¶ 44. However, this court has held that when the defendant is the culprit of the emotional outburst, the issue “falls under the invited error doctrine.” State v. Williams, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 106266, 2018-Ohio-3368, ¶ 40. In Hal Artz Lincoln-Mercury v. Ford Motor Co., 28 Ohio St.3d 20, 502 N.E.2d 590 (1986), paragraph one of the syllabus, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a “party will not be permitted to take advantage of an error which he himself invited or induced.”

In Williams, this court found that the trial court acted within its discretion when it denied the defendant’s motion for a mistrial after he said the following to a witness who was about to testify against him:

Man, * * * what you doin’? You just wrote me and told me you weren’t coming. * * * Ma’am, your Honor, I know this woman. We’ve been having sex since I was 15 years old. She’s been —. Her address [is] * * * Road. She been telling me she wasn’t coming. This is bull [* * * ].

She been writing letters. Her address * * *. I know this woman. * * * You just told me you weren’t coming. Man, I don’t believe you just show up when you just told me you weren’t coming.

Williams at ¶ 36.

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State v. McCollum, 2023 Ohio 69 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023).

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