State v. Perkins

945 N.E.2d 1083, 191 Ohio App. 3d 263
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided October 22, 2010·No. No. 2009 CA 41·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

Donovan, Presiding Judge.

{¶ 1} This matter is before the court on the notice of appeal of Robert H. Perkins, filed October 21, 2009. On October 22, 2008, Perkins was indicted on one count of aggravated assault, in violátion of R.C. 2903.12(A)(2), a felony of the fourth degree. Perkins pleaded not guilty, and he filed a motion to suppress, which was granted in part after a hearing. On April 17, 2009, the state dismissed the aggravated-assault charge without prejudice.

[266]*266{¶ 2} On April 22, 2009, Perkins was reindicted on one count of felonious assault, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2), a felony of the second degree. Perkins pleaded not guilty, and on May 22, 2009, he filed a “Motion to Dismiss; Motion for Grand Jury Transcripts.” According to Perkins, he “is the victim of vindictive prosecution.” Perkins argued that on “the Monday preceding the Thursday trial, the State informed [him] that if he did not plead guilty to the charge of aggravated assault then the State would seek an indictment against [him] for felonious assault. * * * Maintaining his innocence, [Perkins] declined to accept the State’s offer and plead as charged to aggravated assault.” Perkins asserted that on the eve of trial, the prosecutor learned that the alleged victim, Michael Mullins, was in Florida, and “the only reason to dismiss the original case and pursue the felonious assault case was to either force [Perkins] to plead guilty, or to give the State an opportunity to secure [Mullin’s] presence at the trial.”

{¶ 3} Regarding his request for grand-jury transcripts, Perkins asserted that the “first proceeding obviously established the fact that [Mullins] seriously provoked [Perkins] into causing physical harm to [Mullins] by means of a deadly weapon, which is why he was indicted for aggravated assault. On the contrary, the second proceeding did not establish that [Mullins] seriously provoked [Perkins]. The testimony provided at the first hearing is thus exculpatory to [Perkins’s] present case.”

{¶ 4} At the hearing on the defense motion for dismissal of the felonious-assault indictment, the prosecutor stated the following:

{¶ 5} “Early in my conversations with counsel in this case after I evaluated it and I was preparing for trial, I told him early on that this was more consistent with a Felonious Assault based upon my investigation and my trial prep. And I allowed the thing to go on because they were trying to negotiate a plea with respect to the Aggravated Assault, and that’s why that went on.
{¶ 6} “I simply investigated the case, felt it was consistent with a Felonious Assault and I represented it on that basis. There was never going to be a trial on Aggravated Assault. As we progressed towards trial that was made known to everyone. But I let it pend because I thought, and there was hope that there was gonna be a plea.
{¶ 7} “There’s no inconsistent statements and if there were I would have reported them to Counsel as is my duty. I would encourage the Court to look at the transcripts just as they would with respect to any kind of a claim to a prior inconsistent statement and decide for itself whether or not there is in fact any such inconsistent statement and I am confident the Court will find that there is not.”

[267]*267{¶ 8} We note that defense counsel did not dispute the prosecutor’s representation that he had communicated early in negotiations to defense counsel the fact that his initial evaluation revealed that the facts supported a charge of felonious assault. Nor did Perkins offer evidence of any kind that Mullins was out of state, and the record does not establish Mullins’s unavailability. Further, the record is devoid of any evidence that the state was unable to proceed as scheduled on April 16, 2009.

{¶ 9} On July 23, 2009, the trial court overruled Perkins’s motions. In its decision, the trial court noted that it had reviewed the transcripts of the grand-jury testimony as requested by Perkins and found no grounds to dismiss the indictment or release the transcripts to Perkins. It ordered that the transcripts be preserved under seal.

{¶ 10} On August 12, 2009, Perkins filed a motion in limine, asking the trial court to prohibit the state from introducing evidence “concerning events occurring after the fight constituting the alleged felonious assault.” The trial court overruled the motion.

{¶ 11} At trial, Perkins asserted the defense of self-defense, and the jury was instructed on felonious assault, aggravated assault, and assault. Following a jury trial, Perkins was found guilty of felonious assault. He was sentenced to a term of eight years in prison.

{¶ 12} The events giving rise to this matter began on September 17, 2008. Mullins, a concrete contractor, had been hired by Don and Diana Ochs, and Diana’s son, Jeff Hahn, to pour concrete on their property in Tipp City, including a floor for their barn. Three of Mullins’s employees were on the job site that day, namely, Perkins, Clayton Bowling, and Jesse Fugate. Perkins served as the foreman of the crew. Mullins was present at the job site in the morning for an hour, and then he left while the crew began the job. Mullins returned later when the work for the day was 80 percent complete, and he observed that Perkins had not created enough “fall” in the concrete floor as instructed. Due to this mistake, the floor was level, which would allow water to accumulate. According to Mullins, the men needed to make repairs immediately before the concrete hardened.

{¶ 13} According to Mullins’s trial testimony, upon being instructed to begin the repairs, Perkins responded, “ ‘You know what, man, just fuck it.’ ” He then “gets up off his knee boards and walks off the slab just leaving his boot prints right in the concrete. Just left his tools lay inside on the floor.” Perkins and Mullins then approached each other, Perkins grabbed Mullins’s face, and the two men went to the ground. The testimony revealed that they soon released each other and then grabbed each other again and went to the ground, “wrestling,” at least three times. Perkins then grabbed a handful of metal stakes and threw [268]*268them into the concrete while walking through it, saying, ‘You thought it was fucked up before, I’m fuckin’ it up.” Mullins told Perkins to leave the area, and Perkins, who still had a stake in his hand, hit Mullins in the back of his head with the stake. Mullins “blacked out.” Perkins then hit Mullins-in his right arm and repeatedly in his back.

{¶ 14} The trial testimony established that Fugate tackled Perkins to end the assault, and he told Perkins to leave the area. As Perkins was leaving, he picked up a two-by-four and began swinging it at Fugate. Fugate retreated to the area where Bowling and Hahn were standing. A call was made to 9-1-1 by Don Ochs as well as Mullins.

{¶ 15} Deputy Sheriff Robert Morando Jr., of the Miami County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the scene, arriving within five minutes of the initial dispatch. Morando testified that “as I was coming up the first thing that I noticed was the Defendant walking shirtless along the sidewalk heading in a Northerly direction. I did see a board in his hand.” Morando stopped and instructed Perkins to drop the board. He then placed him in handcuffs. After interviewing the witnesses, Morando advised Perkins that he was “under arrest for felonious assault.”

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State v. Perkins, 945 N.E.2d 1083, 191 Ohio App. 3d 263 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

945 N.E.2d 1083 (State v. Perkins) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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