State v. Parsons

2015 Ohio 5103
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 7, 2015
Docket14-CA-63
StatusPublished

This text of 2015 Ohio 5103 (State v. Parsons) 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. Parsons, 2015 Ohio 5103 (Ohio Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Parsons, 2015-Ohio-5103.]

COURT OF APPEALS FAIRFIELD COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

STATE OF OHIO JUDGES: Hon. William B. Hoffman, P.J. Plaintiff-Appellee Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, J. Hon. Craig R. Baldwin, J. -vs- Case No. 14-CA-63 BRANDON PARSONS

Defendant-Appellant OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Appeal from the Fairfield County Court of Common Pleas, Case Nos. 14-CR-178 and 14-CR-295

JUDGMENT: Affirmed

DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: December 7, 2015

APPEARANCES:

For Plaintiff-Appellee For Defendant-Appellant

GREGG MARX SCOTT P. WOOD Prosecuting Attorney Dagger, Johnston, Miller, Ogilvie & Hampson By: ANDREA K. GREEN 144 East Main Street Assistant Prosecuting Attorney P.O. Box 667 Fairfield County, Ohio Lancaster, Ohio 43130 239 W. Main Street, Ste 101 Lancaster, Ohio 43130 Fairfield County, Case No. 14-CA-63 2

Hoffman, P.J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant Brandon Parsons appeals the July 28, 2014 Judgment

Entry entered by the Fairfield County Court of Common Pleas denying his motion to

suppress and his subsequent conviction and sentence. Plaintiff-appellee is the state of

Ohio.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE

{¶2} On March 28, 2014, the Lancaster Police Department was dispatched to

1213 N. Columbus St., Lancaster, Ohio after two separate 911 calls. The first caller

reported witnessing a man chase after a woman. The caller stated a woman was

screaming "Call 911!" and could be heard beating on an upstairs residence door.

{¶3} The second caller identified himself as Jason Sisson, an upstairs neighbor

of Appellant. He reported Appellant's girlfriend, J.H., had run upstairs to his apartment

and banged on the door to be let inside. Sisson reported to the 911 operator, after he let

J.H. inside the apartment and locked the outside door, J.H. asked Sisson to call 911.

Sisson stated J.H. entered his residence and went to the bathroom, where she locked

herself inside. Appellant then proceeded to break through the outer door and progressed

to the locked bathroom door, which he broke down. Sisson reported Appellant retrieved

J.H. from the bathroom and pulled her back down the stairs to the lower residence.

{¶4} Officer Dotson of the Lancaster Police Department was the first to arrive on

the scene. He testified at the suppression hearing he responded to a call of a female

being dragged from a downstairs “apartment-like duplex”. Upon arriving at the scene, he

observed a female at a doorway of a residence, about 50 yards away, calling for a dog.

She appeared to see the officer, and then turned to go back inside. When Officer Dotson Fairfield County, Case No. 14-CA-63 3

saw her, he was approximately 50 yards away. It was dark outside, and the officer could

not see her face clearly. He was unable to tell anything about her demeanor or condition.

He indicated it was dark, the residence was a duplex, so he was unsure to which door he

was responding. He could not see the person’s face, but could tell by her voice it was a

female. When Officer Dotson knocked on the door to the residence and attempted to

make contact, the occupants of the apartment did not respond. Officer Dotson testified

he did not know whether the woman was the victim of the 911 call, and he was unable to

tell whether she was in need of assistance.

{¶5} At the same time, Officer Spiegel of the Lancaster Police Department

contacted Jason Sisson, who resided in the upstairs apartment and was the individual

who made the 911 call. Sisson told Officer Spiegel J.H. had run up the stairs, banged on

the door, and screamed for help. She screamed, "He's going to get me, he's right behind

me!" and ran into the bathroom, closing the door. Sisson locked the outer door, and

Appellant, who was running behind J.H., forced his way into the apartment. Appellant ran

into the bathroom, smashed the door off the hinges, and dragged J.H. out of the

apartment. Officer Spiegel observed the outer door and the double panes of glass on the

front door of Sisson's apartment had been smashed. Further, Officer Spiegel observed

the damage to the door jamb of Sisson's bathroom door leaning against the wall, and

observed the same was completely ripped from the hinges.

{¶6} After speaking with Sisson, Officer Spiegel went back downstairs and spoke

with another neighbor, who reported he observed J.H. screaming around the front of her

apartment and up the stairs of Sisson's apartment. He then observed Appellant dragging Fairfield County, Case No. 14-CA-63 4

J.H. down the stairs into the downstairs apartment, prior to calling 911. Officer Spiegel

relayed this information to the other officers on the scene.

{¶7} The officers determined the residence was in fact the residence where the

female had been observed standing in the entrance. They knocked on the door and

received no response. The only noise inside the apartment was the sound of a dog

barking. The officers determined it was necessary due to emergency circumstances to

make entry into the home without first obtaining a warrant.

{¶8} Once inside the residence, the officers located J.H. behind a door to the

bedroom and Appellant lying on the floor to the same room. Both were uncooperative

and told the officers to leave. Appellant assumed a defensive, combative, posture, and

would not “stand down”. After a warning from the officers, Appellant was subdued with a

laser gun.

{¶9} In 2014CR0178, Appellant was arrested, and indicted on one count of

burglary, in violation of R.C. 2911.12(A) and (D); one count of trespass in a habitation, in

violation of R.C. 2911.12(B) and (E).

{¶10} On May 28, 2014, Appellant filed a motion to suppress. The State filed a

memorandum contra the motion to suppress on July 10, 2014. The trial court conducted

a hearing on the motion on July 14, 2014.

{¶11} On July 18, 2014, in Case No. 2014CR0295, Appellant was indicted on one

count of burglary, in violation of R.C. 2911.12(A)(2) and (D); one count of abduction, in

violation of R.C. 2905.02(A)(1) and (C); one count of trespass in a habitation, in violation

of R.C. 2911.12(B) and (E); and one count of domestic violence, of a family or household

member, in violation of R.C. 2919.25(A), (D)(2). Fairfield County, Case No. 14-CA-63 5

{¶12} On July 28, 2014, the state filed a Post-Hearing Brief Contra Appellant's

Motion to Suppress.

{¶13} Via Judgment Entry of July 28, 2014, the trial court overruled Appellant

{¶14} Following a jury trial on July 31, 2014 in Case No. 2014CR0178, Appellant

was found guilty of the burglary and trespass charges. The trial court found the offenses

to be allied offenses of similar import and sentenced Appellant to a term of three years

on the burglary charge.

{¶15} In Case No. 2014CR00295, following a trial to the court on Count Two,

abduction and Count Four, domestic violence, the trial court, via Verdict of November 10,

2014, found Appellant guilty of the charge of abduction and not guilty of the charge of

domestic violence.

{¶16} On November 12, 2014, the trial court sentenced Appellant to one year in

prison on Case No. 2014CR0295, consecutive to Case No. 2014CR0178, but suspended

the sentence in lieu of the imposition of community control.

{¶17} Appellant appeals, assigning as error:

{¶18} “I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING APPELLANT’S MOTION

TO SUPPRESS.

{¶19} “II.

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