State v. Muhammed

2012 Ohio 5063
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 1, 2012
Docket97788
StatusPublished

This text of 2012 Ohio 5063 (State v. Muhammed) 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. Muhammed, 2012 Ohio 5063 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Muhammed, 2012-Ohio-5063.]

Court of Appeals of Ohio EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION No. 97788

STATE OF OHIO PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE

vs.

KHALIF MUHAMMED DEFENDANT-APPELLANT

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED

Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-549644

BEFORE: Kilbane, J., Boyle, P.J., and Cooney, J.

RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: November 1, 2012 ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Thomas A. Rein Leader Building, Suite 940 526 Superior Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44114

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Timothy J. McGinty Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Ma’rion D. Horhn Sheila Turner-McCall Assistant County Prosecutors The Justice Center - 9th Floor 1200 Ontario Street Cleveland, Ohio 44113 MARY EILEEN KILBANE, J.:

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Khalif Muhammed (“Muhammed”), appeals his

convictions and sentence for felonious assault. For the reasons set forth below, we

affirm.

{¶2} In May 2011, Muhammed was charged with two counts of felonious assault

and attempted murder for shooting D.W., who was 12 years old at the time of the

incident.1 The trial court, pursuant to the state’s motion, dismissed the attempted murder

count prior to trial. Subsequently, the matter proceeded to a jury trial on the two felonious

assault counts. The following evidence was adduced at trial.

{¶3} On April 10, 2011, at approximately 8:30 p.m., D.W. was playing basketball

at a friend’s house when he received a call from his father, Johnny Williams (“Williams”),

to come home. D.W. testified that it takes him approximately two minutes to walk from

his friend’s house to his father’s house on Buckeye Road in Cleveland, Ohio. As D.W.

was walking home, he encountered Nayvonne Wilson (“Wilson”), who he knew from the

neighborhood. Both of them continued to walk to Williams’s house. Shortly thereafter,

D.W. and Wilson observed a group of boys across the street, one of which was

Muhammed. D.W. recognized Muhammed because they are cousins. D.W. testified that

1Each count carried one- and three-year firearm specifications. he saw Muhammed a week earlier at a local restaurant, where Muhammed gave him a hug

and called him “Little Cuz.” Wilson testified that he knew Muhammed from school.

{¶4} Muhammed told Wilson to “come here.” D.W. was afraid that he was

going to get “jumped,” so he and Wilson continued walking, hoping to get to Williams’s

house. As D.W. opened the gate to his father’s house, he observed Muhammed with his

hand by his waist. Wilson testified that at this point he observed Muhammed with a gun.

Wilson then said, “[s]o, you going to shoot at me while I got my friend with me.”

Muhammed fired the gun, and D.W. and Wilson started to run away. Wilson heard D.W.

scream, “I’m hit.” D.W. then turned around and observed the gun in Muhammed’s hand.

D.W. and Wilson ran inside Williams’s house. D.W. told his father that he was shot in

the back and then he passed out. Wilson told Williams that Muhammed shot his son.

Williams called 911 and carried D.W. outside until EMS and Cleveland police responded

to the scene. D.W. was in the hospital for two months and has had nine surgeries as a

result of his gunshot wound.

{¶5} Cleveland police detective Joel Campbell (“Campbell”) testified that he was

assigned this case on April 11, 2011. On that day, Williams brought Wilson to the police

station, where another detective interviewed Wilson. Wilson completed a statement

identifying Muhammed as the person who shot D.W. He also was shown a photo array

and identified Muhammed as the assailant. Campbell also interviewed D.W., who

consistently identified Muhammed as the person who shot him, noting that Muhammed

had a green clover tattoo on his face. {¶6} Muhammed testified on his own behalf. He acknowledged that he knows

D.W. because he is his “little cousin,” and they saw each other at a local restaurant a

couple of weeks before the shooting. He testified that he also knows Wilson and they had

a “falling out” when they were younger because Wilson stole Muhammed’s bicycle.

Muhammed testified that he was with his friend on East 117th Street and Kinsman Avenue

when he learned that D.W. was shot. His mother first called him and told him that D.W.

was shot by his younger brother, Malik. His mother then called him back and told him the

shooter was his other younger brother, Mwesi. His mother called him back a third time,

this time telling Muhammed that his older brother, Tariq, shot D.W. Muhammed then

received information that Williams said he was going to kill him. He further testified that

he did not shoot at D.W. or Wilson. Muhammed acknowledged that he has had a green

clover tattoo on his face since 2010 and that none of his brothers have green clover tattoos

on their faces.

{¶7} At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Muhammed guilty of both

counts of felonious assault, along with the accompanying firearm specifications. The trial

court merged Counts 1 and 2 for purposes of sentencing and sentenced Muhammed to

eight years in prison on Count 1. The trial court also merged the firearm specifications,

for a total of three years in prison. The trial court ordered that the three-year firearm

specification be served prior to the eight years on the felonious assault count, for an

aggregate sentence of 11 years in prison. {¶8} Muhammed now appeals, raising the following four assignments of error for

review.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR ONE

The trial court erred in denying [Muhammed’s] motion for acquittal as to the charges when the State failed to present sufficient evidence against [Muhammed.]

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR TWO

[Muhammed’s] convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR THREE

[Muhammed’s] sentences are contrary to law.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR FOUR

The trial court erred by ordering [Muhammed] to serve a consecutive sentence without making the appropriate finding required by R.C. 2929.14 and [H.B. 86.]

Sufficiency and Manifest Weight of the Evidence

{¶9} In the first assignment of error, Muhammed argues that the state failed to

present sufficient evidence to sustain his felonious assault convictions. In the second

assignment of error, he argues that his convictions are against the manifest weight of the

evidence.

{¶10} The Ohio Supreme Court in State v. Diar, 120 Ohio St.3d 460,

2008-Ohio-6266, 900 N.E.2d 565, ¶ 113, explained the standard for sufficiency of the

evidence as follows:

Raising the question of whether the evidence is legally sufficient to support the jury verdict as a matter of law invokes a due process concern. State v. Thompkins (1997), 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 386, 678 N.E.2d 541. In reviewing such a challenge, “[t]he relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. Jenks (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492, paragraph two of the syllabus, following Jackson v. Virginia (1979), 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560.

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Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
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State v. Martin
485 N.E.2d 717 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1983)
State v. Jenks
574 N.E.2d 492 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1991)
State v. Thompkins
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State v. Edmonson
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State v. Wilson
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