State v. Quarterman

2024 Ohio 6095
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 31, 2024
Docket30776
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2024 Ohio 6095 (State v. Quarterman) 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. Quarterman, 2024 Ohio 6095 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Quarterman, 2024-Ohio-6095.]

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COUNTY OF SUMMIT )

STATE OF OHIO C.A. No. 30776

Appellee

v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT ENTERED IN THE ALEXANDER QUARTERMAN COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO Appellant CASE No. CR 22 09 3082(B)

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY

Dated: December 31, 2024

FLAGG LANZINGER, Judge.

{¶1} Alexander Quarterman appeals his convictions and sentence from the Summit

County Court of Common Pleas. For the following reasons, this Court affirms.

I.

{¶2} A grand jury indicted Quarterman and a co-defendant, Anthony Fowler, on the

following four counts: (1) murder in violation of R.C. 2903.02(A); (2) felony murder in violation

of R.C. 2903.02(B) with the predicate offense of felonious assault; (3) felonious assault in violation

of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2) related to the use of a motor vehicle; and (4) felonious assault in violation

of R.C. 2903.11(A) related to the use of a firearm. The counts of murder, felony murder, and the

count of felonious assault related to the use of a firearm contained accompanying firearm

specifications under R.C. 2941.145(A).

{¶3} The charges were based on allegations that Fowler struck D.P. from behind while

Fowler was driving a red Jeep Cherokee, causing D.P. to fall to the ground. At the time of the 2

incident, D.P. was walking alone through a parking lot. The charges were also based on allegations

that, after Fowler struck D.P., Quarterman (the front-seat passenger in the Jeep) shot D.P. in the

neck as D.P. was attempting to get up from the ground. D.P. died at the scene as a result of the

gunshot wound. Quarterman and Fowler pleaded not guilty and the matter proceeded to a jury

trial.

{¶4} At trial, the State presented evidence from eight witnesses. The State’s witnesses

included Fowler’s cousin, D.P.’s nephew (“Nephew”), the responding officers and detectives, the

Chief Medical Examiner for Summit County, and a forensic scientist from the Bureau of Criminal

Investigation (“BCI”). The defense presented no witnesses. This Court will briefly summarize

the testimony of the State’s witnesses.

{¶5} Nephew provided the following version of the events, some of which was supported

by surveillance videos the State played for the jury. Nephew and D.P. went to a mini mart on the

corner of Copley Road and Noble Avenue on July 17, 2022, to play video games. The video games

were in the back room of the mini mart.

{¶6} While Nephew and D.P. were in the back room, Fowler and Quarterman arrived in

a red Jeep Cherokee. Fowler was the driver and Quarterman was the front-seat passenger. After

Fowler parked the Jeep, Quarterman entered the mini mart and went to the back room. Quarterman

was purportedly looking for someone named “HD” who was not at the mini mart.

{¶7} Fowler entered the mini mart after Quarterman and grabbed a drink from one of the

refrigerators. A surveillance video showed D.P. emerge from the back room, walk up to Fowler,

and punch Fowler in the face as Fowler began to take a sip from his drink. A brief “scuffl[e]”

ensued among D.P., Fowler, and Quarterman. During the altercation, some of Fowler’s drink 3

spilled on Quarterman. Nephew testified that he helped break up the altercation. In doing so,

Nephew felt what he thought was a gun on Quarterman’s hip.

{¶8} Nephew helped escort Fowler and Quarterman out of the mini mart. A surveillance

video showed Fowler exit the mini mart, walk back to the red Jeep, and get into the driver’s seat.

The video also showed Quarterman exit the mini mart while Nephew stood at the door to prevent

Quarterman from re-entering. Nephew testified that Quarterman wanted to re-enter the mini mart

to get his phone, but that he (Nephew) said he would get if for him. Nephew testified that

Quarterman said “I’m going to get him[,]” referring to D.P., before Quarterman walked back to

the red Jeep and got into the front passenger seat. The surveillance video showed that Quarterman

took off his white t-shirt after exiting the mini mart, presumably because some of Fowler’s drink

spilled on him during the altercation. Fowler and Quarterman then drove out of the parking lot.

{¶9} Nephew and D.P. left the mini mart a few minutes later. Nephew drove D.P. to a

friend’s house a short distance from the mini mart. After dropping D.P. off, Nephew drove around

the block a few times because he was “rattled” by the events at the mini mart. While driving,

Nephew saw D.P. get out of a car at a street corner and begin walking through a parking lot.

Nephew then saw the red Jeep speed up behind D.P. and strike D.P., causing D.P. to fall to the

ground. Nephew then saw Quarterman, who was in the front passenger seat of the Jeep, get out of

the Jeep and shoot D.P. The Jeep then sped away from the scene.

{¶10} In addition to surveillance videos from the mini mart, the State played a

surveillance video that showed a red Jeep strike D.P. That video also showed D.P. attempt to get

back up before being shot. The shooter is not visible in the surveillance video, nor is the driver of

the red Jeep. None of the surveillance videos showed the license plate of the Jeep. According to

Nephew, the Jeep he saw strike D.P. was the same Jeep he saw Fowler and Quarterman get into in 4

the parking lot of the mini mart. According to one of the detectives, the red Jeep in the surveillance

videos was unique because it was missing the Jeep emblem on the front.

{¶11} The police arrived and observed that D.P. had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to

his neck. Nephew told the police at the scene that men in a red Jeep struck and shot D.P. As part

of their investigation, the police posted still images from the surveillance videos on social media.

A few days after the shooting, Fowler’s cousin, S.P., contacted the police.

{¶12} S.P. testified at trial, acknowledging that she was under subpoena and did not want

to testify against Fowler. S.P. testified that she contacted the police because she learned that a car

that looked like hers was involved in a shooting. S.P. claimed that she initially contacted the police

because she was “drinking” and “paranoid.” S.P. testified that she owned a red Jeep Cherokee,

and that she loaned it to Fowler on or around July 17, 2022. S.P. acknowledged that her Jeep did

not have a Jeep emblem on the front.

{¶13} The State questioned S.P. as to whether anyone was with Fowler when Fowler

picked up the Jeep from her, whether she noticed any damage to her Jeep after Fowler returned the

Jeep to her, and whether anyone was with Fowler when he returned the Jeep to her. S.P. testified

that she did not remember whether anyone was with Fowler when Fowler picked up the Jeep, and

that no one was with him when he returned the Jeep to her. S.P. also testified that she did not

observe any new damage to the Jeep, but claimed that the Jeep had prior damage to the front hood.

{¶14} During S.P.’s testimony, the State and defense counsel went into the trial court’s

chambers to discuss the State’s position that S.P.’s testimony was not consistent with her prior

statement to the police. The State asked the trial court if it could show S.P. a video of her prior

statement outside the presence of the jury to refresh S.P.’s recollection, which the trial court

allowed. S.P. then continued with her testimony. 5

{¶15} Upon resuming her testimony, S.P.

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