State v. Raber

938 N.E.2d 1060, 189 Ohio App. 3d 396
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 30, 2010
DocketNo. 09CA0065
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 938 N.E.2d 1060 (State v. Raber) 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. Raber, 938 N.E.2d 1060, 189 Ohio App. 3d 396 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

Whitmore, Judge.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Barbara Raber, appeals from her conviction in the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas. This court affirms.

I

{¶ 2} On the morning of June 2, 2009, a neighbor discovered Barbara Weaver lying on her bed with a gunshot wound to her chest. The neighbor went to check on Weaver after one of Weaver’s young children came to her and told her that he had found his mother dead in her bed. Medical assistance arrived shortly thereafter, and the Wayne County coroner pronounced Weaver deceased later that morning. The coroner estimated that Weaver died sometime between midnight and six o’clock in the morning on June 2, 2009. It was later determined that Weaver died from a single gunshot wound fired at close range from a .410-gauge shotgun.

{¶ 3} Eli Weaver, Barbara Weaver’s husband and the father of their five children, received a phone call about his wife while on a fishing trip to Lake Erie. Eli had left the Weaver home at approximately 3:00 a.m. that morning. Eli spoke with police when he returned home and initially denied any involvement in his wife’s death. He later admitted, however, that he and his girlfriend, Raber, [401]*401had planned Barbara Weaver’s murder and Raber committed the murder with his assistance.

{¶ 4} Eli and Raber began a personal relationship several years earlier, after the two met through Raber’s husband. Eli and his family were members of the Amish community when he and Raber began their relationship, but Eli twice left the community after being shunned for his behavior. Eli had several affairs and met women online through the use of a cellular phone that he received from Raber. When the two began discussing the murder of Barbara Weaver, they sent numerous text messages to each other setting out their plan. Police obtained the text messages during their investigation.

{¶ 5} On June 10, 2009, officers from the Wayne County sheriffs office came to Raber’s home to arrest her for Weaver’s murder. After officers arrested Raber, they drove her to the sheriffs office and interrogated her. Raber confessed to Weaver’s murder during the interrogation but refused to complete a written statement. Raber spent the night in jail, and officers questioned her again the next day about several details of her confession. Raber eventually asserted her right to counsel and ended the interrogation.

{¶ 6} On June 12, 2009, a grand jury indicted Raber on one count of aggravated murder, in violation of R.C. 2903.01, and an attendant firearm specification. On August 21, 2009, Raber filed a motion to suppress, seeking to exclude the oral statements she made to police upon and after her arrest. The court held a hearing on Raber’s motion on September 14, 2009. It further held a hearing on September 17, 2009, to announce its ruling on the record before issuing a judgment entry the same day. The court denied Raber’s motion. Thereafter, a jury trial commenced. The jury found Raber guilty of aggravated murder and further found that she had committed the murder with a firearm. The court sentenced Raber to a total of 23 years in prison.

{¶ 7} Raber now appeals from her conviction and raises four assignments of error for our review.

II

Assignment of Error Number One

The trial court erred to the prejudice of Barbara Raber by overruling her motion to suppress evidence.

{¶ 8} In her first assignment of error, Raber argues that the trial court erred by denying her motion to suppress. Specifically, she argues that the court should have suppressed the statements she made to police upon and after her arrest [402]*402because they questioned her after she had made an unambiguous, unequivocal request for an attorney. We disagree.

{¶ 9} The Ohio Supreme Court has held:

Appellate review of a motion to suppress presents a mixed question of law and fact. When considering a motion to suppress, the trial court assumes the role of trier of fact and is therefore in the best position to resolve factual questions and evaluate the credibility of witnesses. State v. Mills (1992), 62 Ohio St.3d 357, 366, 582 N.E.2d 972. Consequently, an appellate court must accept the trial court’s findings of fact if they are supported by competent, credible evidence. State v. Fanning (1982), 1 Ohio St.3d 19, 1 OBR 57, 437 N.E.2d 583. Accepting these facts as true, the appellate court must then independently determine, without deference to the conclusion of the trial court, whether the facts satisfy the applicable legal standard. State v. McNamara (1997), 124 Ohio App.3d 706, 707 N.E.2d 539.

State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St.3d 152, 2003-Ohio-5372, 797 N.E.2d 71, ¶ 8. Accordingly, this court reviews the trial court’s factual findings for competent, credible evidence and considers the court’s legal conclusions de novo. State v. Conley, 9th Dist. No. 08CA009454, 2009-0hio-910, 2009 WL 499309, ¶ 6, citing Burnside at ¶ 8.

{¶ 10} Neither party takes issue with the facts that emerged at the suppression hearing or the factual findings reached by the trial court. This court sets forth the facts from the suppression hearing solely to facilitate the legal analysis that follows. Detective John Chuhi of the Wayne County sheriffs office was the only witness who testified at the suppression hearing. He testified to the following events.

{¶ 11} Detective Chuhi arrived at Raber’s Millersburg home at approximately 4:20 p.m. on June 10, 2009, to arrest her for Barbara Weaver’s murder. Several other officers accompanied Detective Chuhi for the purpose of executing a search warrant on Raber’s home. Detective Chuhi met Raber at her door and read her the search warrant. Raber then stepped outside and another officer, Detective Michael Maxwell, placed her under arrest. Detective Maxwell read Raber her Miranda rights from a card while Detective Chuhi observed. Raber did not say anything at that point, but Detective Chuhi testified that Raber appeared to understand her rights. He then proceeded to take Raber toward his police car.

{¶ 12} Raber became very emotional as Detective Chuhi walked with her and she stopped to sit down on the tire of a boat trailer. When Detective Chuhi went to help Raber stand up, “she looked at [him] and said, ‘can I have an attorney?’ ” Before Detective Chuhi could respond, however, Raber immediately “bec[ame] more emotional and then started asking [him] questions about her children.” [403]*403Detective Chuhi addressed Raber’s concerns about her children, helped her over to the police car, and placed her in the backseat. He gave her several minutes to compose herself and then sat in the backseat with her as Detective Maxwell sat in the driver’s seat. The following exchange took place when Detective Chuhi got into the backseat of the police car:

As I got in the car I told Barbara [Raber] that — actually repeated back to her what she had stated to me in the driveway. And I said, Barbara, you asked me if you can have an attorney. I then told her yes, you can if you wish. And I asked her, Barbara, do you understand this. She stated yes, I do. I then asked her did you understand the rights that Detective Maxwell read to you. She stated that she did. I then asked her if she was willing to speak with us and hear what we had to say. She stated that she was.

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Bluebook (online)
938 N.E.2d 1060, 189 Ohio App. 3d 396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-raber-ohioctapp-2010.