State v. Palmer

897 N.E.2d 224, 178 Ohio App. 3d 192, 2008 Ohio 4604
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 12, 2008
DocketNo. C-010583.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 897 N.E.2d 224 (State v. Palmer) 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. Palmer, 897 N.E.2d 224, 178 Ohio App. 3d 192, 2008 Ohio 4604 (Ohio Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

Hildebrandt, Judge.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Toby Palmer, appeals from the judgment of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas convicting him, following a jury trial, of aggravated robbery in violation of R.C. 2911.01, robbery in violation of R.C. 2911.02, and one gun specification. The trial court imposed a ten-year prison term for the aggravated robbery, a three-year prison term for the gun specification, and an eight-year prison term for robbery and ordered these sentences to be served consecutively.

{¶ 2} Palmer now brings forth three assignments of error. Upon our determination that the trial court violated R.C. 2941.25 when it sentenced Palmer for both aggravated robbery and robbery, we affirm the findings of guilt, but vacate the sentences, including the sentence imposed for the gun specification.

I. On Reconsideration

{¶ 3} Palmer was convicted in 2001. He appealed, and in 2002, we affirmed his convictions in all respects. 1 In response to Palmer’s challenge in his third assignment of error to his consecutive sentences for aggravated robbery and robbery, we applied the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Ranee 2 to hold (albeit reluctantly) that the trial court could have, consistent with R.C. 2941.25, sentenced Palmer for both aggravated robbery and robbery because the offenses were not allied offenses of similar import. 3 The Ohio Supreme Court declined to accept Palmer’s appeal for review. 4

{¶ 4} But in April 2008, the Supreme Court, in State v. Cóbrales, 5 affirmed this court’s holding that R.C. 2941.25 precluded sentencing a defendant for both *195 possession of a controlled substance under R.C. 2925.11(A) and trafficking in the same controlled substance under R.C. 2925.03(A)(2). 6 In so doing, the Supreme Court did not overrule Ranee. Instead, citing with disapproval our 2002 decision in Palmer, the Supreme Court rejected as “overly narrow” the “view of numerous Ohio appellate districts * * * that Ranee ‘requires a strict textual comparison’ of elements under R.C. 2941.25(A).” 7

{¶ 5} In March 2008, a month before the Supreme Court decided Cabrales, we had decided State v. Madaris. 8 In that decision, we had declared ourselves compelled by Ranee and Palmer to hold (again, reluctantly) that the trial court could have, consistent with R.C. 2941.25, sentenced Madaris for both aggravated robbery and robbery.

{¶ 6} In May 2008, in the wake of Cabrales, we reconsidered our March 2008 decision in Madaris. In our decision on reconsideration, we held that the trial court could not have, consistently with R.C. 2941.25, sentenced Madaris for both aggravated robbery and robbery because “the commission of aggravated robbery under R.C. 2911.01(A)(1) necessarily results in the commission of robbery under R.C. 2911.02(A)(2),” and thus the offenses are allied and of similar import. Accordingly, we overruled our 2002 decision in Palmer to the extent that we had there held otherwise. 9

{¶ 7} In July 2008, citing Cabrales, Palmer applied under App.R. 26 for reconsideration of our 2002 decision in his case. The Supreme Court’s decision in Cabrales and our subsequent decision in Madaris made apparent our error in overruling Palmer’s third assignment of error, which challenged the imposition of consecutive prison terms for aggravated robbery and robbery. 10 And those decisions provided the extraordinary circumstances that warranted enlarging the time for applying for reconsideration. 11 Accordingly, we reconsider and substitute this decision for our 2002 decision.

*196 II. The Assignments of Error

A. Lattimore’s Testimony

{¶ 8} In his first assignment of error, Palmer urges that the lower court erred by failing to require co-defendant Darían Lattimore to testify pursuant to Palmer’s subpoena. We are unpersuaded.

{¶ 9} The record discloses that Palmer called Lattimore as a defense witness. Lattimore and his nephew, Robert, had been indicted as co-defendants. Palmer’s case was separated from the Lattimores’ cases following Palmer’s motion to sever. Although Lattimore and the state had entered into a plea agreement in which Lattimore had pleaded guilty to the same charges that Palmer faced, Lattimore had not yet been sentenced at the time he was subpoenaed to testify at Palmer’s trial.

{¶ 10} At Palmer’s trial, Lattimore, after consulting with his counsel, declined to testify, asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege. Palmer contends that since Lattimore had already tendered his plea of guilty, he should have been required to testify, regardless of whether sentencing had occurred. We disagree. When a co-defendant has pleaded guilty but has not yet been sentenced, he may properly assert his Fifth Amendment privilege, because the plea-bargaining process has not yet been completed. 12 Accordingly, the trial court’s decision to allow Lattimore to invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege was proper.

{¶ 11} Palmer also asserts that the trial court abused its discretion by delaying the sentencing of Lattimore until after Palmer’s trial, effectively preventing Lattimore from testifying. But the length of the delay between Lattimore’s plea and sentence is not of record. When relevant portions of the record are not transmitted for our review, we must presume regularity in the proceedings below. 13 Accordingly, the first assignment of error is overruled.

B. Prosecutorial Misconduct

{¶ 12} In his second assignment of error, Palmer maintains that the trial court erred by failing to declare a mistrial based upon prosecutorial misconduct. Palmer asserts that the assistant prosecutor engaged in misconduct when he asserted, during closing argument, that one of the state’s witnesses had been scared to testify because of threats she had allegedly received from Palmer. We find this assignment of error unpersuasive.

*197 {¶ 13} Although Palmer did not request a mistrial following the prosecutor’s comments, he did object to the alleged misconduct and thus preserved this issue for appeal.

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Related

State v. Palmer
920 N.E.2d 989 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010)
State v. Hatton
917 N.E.2d 812 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Thomas, C-010724 (3-6-2009)
2009 Ohio 971 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
897 N.E.2d 224, 178 Ohio App. 3d 192, 2008 Ohio 4604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-palmer-ohioctapp-2008.