State v. Phelps

949 N.E.2d 567, 192 Ohio App. 3d 484
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 17, 2011
DocketNo. 94683
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 949 N.E.2d 567 (State v. Phelps) 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. Phelps, 949 N.E.2d 567, 192 Ohio App. 3d 484 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

James J. Sweeney, Judge.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Larry Phelps appeals the court’s denial of his motion for a new trial. After reviewing the facts of the case and pertinent law, we affirm.

{¶ 2} On May 25, 1995, defendant was convicted of the murder, kidnapping, and robbery of Merle Johnston (“the victim”). Defendant was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. This court affirmed his convictions and sentence on appeal. State v. Phelps (Sept. 19, 1996), Cuyahoga App. No. 69157, 1996 WL 532092.

{¶ 3} In July 2009, defendant was granted leave to file a motion for a new trial based on the prosecutor’s failure to divulge exculpatory evidence. After an evidentiary hearing, the court summarily denied defendant’s motion on January 20, 2010, and defendant appeals, raising one assignment of error for our review:

{¶ 4} “I. The trial court erred by overruling the appellant’s new trial motion.”
{¶ 5} Specifically, defendant argues that the state’s key witness in his 1995 trial, his ex-wife Laura, gave testimony that was tainted and inadmissible because she was hypnotized as part of the police investigation in this case, and the hypnosis was not disclosed by the state.

{¶ 6} Crim.R. 33(A) governs the grounds for granting a motion for a new trial, and it states as follows:

{¶ 7} “A new trial may be granted on motion of the defendant for any of the following causes affecting materially his substantial rights:
{¶ 8} “ * * *
{¶ 9} “(2) Misconduct of the jury, prosecuting attorney, or the witnesses for the state;
{¶ 10} “ * * *
{¶ 11} “(6) When new evidence material to the defense is discovered which the defendant could not with reasonable diligence have discovered and produced at the trial.”

{¶ 12} The Ohio Supreme Court held in State v. Johnston that although testimony by a witness under hypnosis is inadmissible per se, posthypnotie testimony may be admissible under certain circumstances. State v. Johnston (1988), 39 Ohio St.3d 48, 50-54, 529 N.E.2d 898. First, “testimony of a witness who has undergone hypnosis is admissible if it relates to matters recalled prior to hypnosis, so long as its independence is reliably shown.” Id. at 50-51. Second, “hypnotically refreshed testimony * * * is admissible only if the trial court [487]*487determines that, under the totality of the circumstances, the proposed testimony is sufficiently reliable to merit admission.” Id. at 54.

{¶ 13} In the instant case, defendant alleges that Laura’s hypnosis was procured by the prosecutor and homicide detective assigned to this case, but the state failed to provide this information to defendant prior to trial. Defendant further argues that Laura’s testimony was inadmissible because it did not meet the reliability standards set forth in Johnston. According to defendant, allowing Laura’s inadmissible testimony was materially prejudicial to him because without it, the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions.

{¶ 14} A brief history of the facts leading to defendant’s 1995 trial and convictions follows.

{¶ 15} In 1985, Laura was working as a prostitute, and defendant was her pimp. When Laura went home after working the streets on the night of August 26, 1985, defendant and another man were in her living room. She recognized this other man because he had solicited her for sex earlier that night. She saw defendant punch the man in the face, knocking him down. The next morning, Laura saw this same man leaning against a pole in her basement. She later saw defendant put the man in a bear hug and walk him upstairs. There was a plastic garbage bag over the man’s head. Defendant told Laura to get in the car because they had to go for a ride. They drove for hours on the freeway, toward Pennsylvania or New York, stayed overnight, and came back the next morning. Laura was sleeping or passed out drunk in the car for most of the trip. However, she remembered that at one point, she woke up to find the car pulled over to the side of the road and defendant standing outside near the car.

{¶ 16} Three weeks later, Laura was pulled over by the Cleveland police. She was driving a car that belonged to the victim, who had been missing since August 26, 1985. The police questioned Laura and defendant about this vehicle. Defendant explained that he occasionally worked as a repo man and had recently repossessed this car as collateral for a debt. Apparently, this did not lead to any further information in the investigation.

{¶ 17} In February 1988, Laura came into contact with the Cleveland police again. Detective Ernest Hayes interviewed Laura as part of an investigation of the December 1987 death of two males. Defendant was a suspect in this investigation. During the interview, Laura also agreed to talk about the events that occurred on August 26-27, 1985, in an effort to keep defendant away from her. Defendant had been physically abusing Laura for years, and he had recently severely beaten her. Hayes wrote a report on February 16, 1988, summarizing what Laura said had happened in August 1985:

[488]*488{¶ 18} “Once inside, [the victim] met [defendant], who struck him in the face, knocking him down. [The victim’s] bank card was taken from him, LAURA took this to the bank and it was rejected as not authorized. When she returned to the home * * * [defendant] had taken the victim into the basement and he was handcuffed to a pole. [Defendant] was looking through [the victim’s] brief case, [sic] there was [sic] a lot of papers from business deals. She said that one of the names on the papers was JOHNSON. It should be noted that the missing person is named MERLE LEE JOHNSON.1 * * * [Defendant] and Laura went to their basement, the victim was stood up and then [defendant] punched him in the chest. He then held the victim around the kneck [sic] with his arms. The male fell to the floor and did not move. A bag was placed over his head, [sic] this was plastic. He [sic] lower body was wrapped with something like a blanket. [Defendant] carried his [sic] up the stairs and placed him in the back trunk of his car. She said that was the same car that he drove to [her house] and that she was arrest[ed] in and it was towed. After the victim was placed in the trunk later they started to drive with [defendant] being high on drugs (Cocaine). While they were driving she smoked marijuana and drank some whiskey. She said that she is not a drinker and she became very high from the two things. They went to PENN. And NEW YORK. They drove through both states. She said someplace they stopped along side the road and [defendant] picked the body out of the trunk and throwed [sic] it into a wooded area. She thought this was a rural area. * * * There was no doubt in her mind that the male was dead.”

{¶ 19} The next day, February 17, 1988, authorities in Pennsylvania and New York were notified to report any unidentified bodies to the Cleveland Homicide Unit.

{¶ 20} On February 21, 1988, Hayes wrote a second report after speaking with Laura again. According to this report, Laura “told me that after she got home after she talked to us that she went to the basement and tried to recall what she saw. She then told me that she could not remember anything that she thought happened.

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Related

State v. Phelps
2016 Ohio 2631 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
949 N.E.2d 567, 192 Ohio App. 3d 484, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-phelps-ohioctapp-2011.