State v. Oliver

508 N.E.2d 1048, 31 Ohio App. 3d 100, 31 Ohio B. 171, 1987 Ohio App. LEXIS 7711
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 4, 1987
Docket1682 & 1683
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 508 N.E.2d 1048 (State v. Oliver) 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. Oliver, 508 N.E.2d 1048, 31 Ohio App. 3d 100, 31 Ohio B. 171, 1987 Ohio App. LEXIS 7711 (Ohio Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

Ford, J.

On October 13 and October 18, 1984, Agents Jackie Bozeman *101 and Steve Hasseman of the Ohio Department of Liquor Control were sent to investigate a complaint regarding the presence of gambling machines at a bar owned by defendant-appellant, Ronald J. Oliver, doing business as defendant-appellant, Chaparell Lounge, in Brady Lake, Ohio. At trial, Agent Bozeman testified that, on both of the foregoing dates, he played one of two Castle Video Machines and accumulated points on the devices. Agent Bozeman stated that his winnings on the first occasion amounted to $10 and that he was compensated in the form of a free pizza worth $6.95, and $3.05 in cash. On the second visit, Bozeman testified that he received the sum of $12.50 in cash for the points he had accumulated on the machine.

On December 13, 1984, appellants Ronald Oliver and Chaparell Lounge were jointly indicted on four counts, namely, possessing criminal tools, gambling — conducting a game of chance, gambling — possessing a gambling device, and operating a gambling house.

Thereafter, appellant Oliver filed numerous pretrial motions, including two motions to suppress evidence and a motion to dismiss counts two, three, and four of the indictment, for failure to comply with the speedy trial requirements of R.C. 2945.71(B). Although the trial court overruled appellant’s motion to suppress, appellant Oliver’s motion to dismiss the subject three counts was granted.

Subsequently, on August 13, 1985, appellant Oliver was tried before a jury in the Portage County Court of Common Pleas, with respect to the remaining count of possessing criminal tools. R.C. 2923.24(A). At the close of the evidence, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. On August 17, 1985, appellant Chaparell Lounge entered a plea of no contest to the subject charge and was found guilty by the trial judge on August 19, 1985. Appellant Oliver was sentenced to six months in the Ohio State Reformatory and fined $1,000, plus costs. The trial court, however, suspended the foregoing prison sentence and placed appellant Oliver on probation for one year. Appellant Chaparell Lounge was fined $1,000, plus costs.

On April 11,1986, appellant Ronald J. Oliver in case No. 1682, and appellant Chaparell Lounge in case No. 1683, timely filed a notice of appeal, advancing the following same assignments of error:

“1. The trial court erred in not granting defendant’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal because the state failed to prove that the defendant was a permit holder from the Department of Liquor Control.

“2. Ohio Revised Code Section 2923.24 is unconstitutional in that it violates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 16 of the Ohio Constitution.

“3. The trial court erred in not granting the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict because the state’s evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to sustain a conviction.

“4. The trial court committed error prejudicial to the defendant by not granting defendant’s pretrial motion to dismiss the possessing criminal tools charge on the grounds that it was unconstitutional and violated rules of statutory construction.

“5. The defendant was placed in double jeopardy in violation of the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 10 of the Ohio Constitution.”

Appellant Oliver’s first assignment of error contends that the trial court erred in not granting appellant’s motion for a directed verdict, alleging that the state failed to establish that appellant Oliver was the liquor permit holder. In support of his argument, appellant relies on this court’s decision in State v. Evans *102 (May 17,1985), Portage App. No. 1437, unreported.

In the first instance, Evans, supra, involved a pretrial motion to suppress evidence of video gambling machines, based on a. warrantless search of the alleged liquor permit holder’s premises. While the record in this action demonstrates that appellant filed a motion to suppress on the same ground as in Evans, supra, the trial court overruled the motion. Here, however, the discussion is addressed to appellant’s motion for a directed verdict.

Further, in Evans, supra, this court upheld the trial court’s decision granting the motion to suppress, concluding that:

“However, the prosecution did not sustain its burden of proof as to the search of the premises involved in the above-captioned cause. The prosecution, at the suppression hearing, offered no evidence. Counsel for appellees and the prosecution stipulated certain evidence. However, no evidence was stipulated as to the events that occurred on the permit holder’s premises when the liquor agents visited the premises nor was there any stipulation as to what was seized by the agents other than the stipulation * * agents came back without proper order of the court, without any warrant, and seized these machines.’ Most importantly, there was no stipulation, nor evidence offered, that the premises had a liquor permit.” Id. at 3-4.

In the case sub judice, while a hearing was conducted on appellant’s motion to suppress at which time the state advanced that Agents Bozeman and Hasseman offered testimony on the matter, the record does not contain a transcript of the subject hearing. Consequently, this court has no choice but to presume regularity in the lower court proceedings pertaining to the suppression hearing as it bears on appellant’s first assignment of error.

Further, the transcript of the trial proceedings clearly shows that Agent Bozeman testified that appellant Oliver was the liquor permit holder for the establishment in question. Appellant does not cite this court to any authority for the proposition that the permit status of any given liquor establishment can only be proved by the introduction in evidence of the permit itself, or a properly authenticated copy thereof. We are not mindful of such requirement. The testimony of Agent Bozeman was sufficiently competent to establish this fact in evidence.

Thus, this case is factually distinguishable from Evans, supra, where there was no evidence as to the permit or its ownership or licensing status.

Since appellant has failed to establish his argument in this assignment, it is found to be without merit.

Appellants’ second and fourth assignments of error involve the same issue and will thus be addressed in a consolidated manner. In these assignments, appellants challenge the trial court’s refusal to dismiss the possession of criminal tools count, R.C. 2923.24, alleging that the subject statute violates the Due Process Clauses of the United States and Ohio Constitutions.

R.C. 2923.24 reads, in relevant part, as follows:

“(A) No person shall possess or have under his control any substance, device, instrument, or article, with purpose to use it criminally.

“(B) Each of the following constitutes prima-facie evidence of criminal purpose:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
508 N.E.2d 1048, 31 Ohio App. 3d 100, 31 Ohio B. 171, 1987 Ohio App. LEXIS 7711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-oliver-ohioctapp-1987.