State v. Renkes

2012 Ohio 1931
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 23, 2012
Docket11CAA070067
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

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Bluebook
State v. Renkes, 2012 Ohio 1931 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Renkes, 2012-Ohio-1931.]

COURT OF APPEALS DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

STATE OF OHIO JUDGES: Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, P.J. Plaintiff-Appellee Hon. William B. Hoffman, J. Hon. Sheila G. Farmer, J. -vs-

CHRISTOPHER J. RENKES Case No. 11CAA070067

Defendant-Appellant OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Appeal from the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 11CRI020106

JUDGMENT: Affirmed in part, Reversed in part and Remanded

DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: April 23, 2012

APPEARANCES:

For Plaintiff-Appellee For Defendant-Appellant

CAROL HAMILTON O'BRIEN J.C. RATLIFF Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney JON L. JENSEN JEFF RATLIFF DOUGLAS DUMOLT ASHLEY LAWSON Assistant Prosecuting Attorney 200 West Center Street 140 N. Sandusky St., 3rd Floor Marion, Ohio 43302 Delaware, Ohio 43015 Delaware County, Case No. 11CAA070067 2

Hoffman, J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant Christopher J. Renkes appeals his conviction in the

Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. Plaintiff-appellee is the State of Ohio.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

{¶2} On May 14, 2009, Detective Marcus Penwell of the Franklin County

Sheriff’s Office ICAC Task Force was posing online as a fifteen year-old female in an

online Yahoo chat room. Detective Penwell’s online persona was contacted by a

person using the screen name “jeff_bark2002.” The screen name was later positively

identified as belonging to Appellant. During the chat, Detective Penwell immediately

made clear to Appellant he was chatting with a fifteen year old girl. Appellant replied he

was twenty-six and asked the on-line persona to come to his house. Appellant

arranged to meet the online fifteen year-old persona at a CiCi’s restaurant in order to

pick her up and take her back to his house. He continually stated they would not “have

sex” and would “sit across the room from each other.”

{¶3} On June 23, 2009, Appellant again contacted the on-line fifteen year old

persona via Yahoo Instant Messenger. He asked the persona her age appearing to not

remember having talked to her. The persona replied she was fifteen, and Appellant

indicated he was at the meet location and he ate at a nearby restaurant in the same

parking lot. He then attempted to set up a second meet with the female persona. At

this time the chat was terminated by Detective Penwell.

{¶4} Detective Penwell was contacted off and on via Yahoo Messenger by

Appellant over a two month period. Appellant attempted to arrange for the online

female persona to meet him to go back to his place to “watch movies and swim.” Delaware County, Case No. 11CAA070067 3

{¶5} On one occasion, Detective Penwell arranged a meet and obtained a

license plate number from a vehicle in which Appellant arrived at the location. Through

the license plate, Detective Penwell was able to positively identify Appellant as the

person he had been chatting with online.

{¶6} During a three month period, Appellant attempted to meet with the online

persona on several occasions. On September 22, 2009, Appellant solicited the online

persona using the screen name renkeschris@ymail.com to engage in sexual

intercourse and arranged to meet at a designated location. He then changed the

original location to a hotel parking lot. Detectives with the FCSO ICAC Task Force set

up surveillance at the arranged meet location. Appellant was arrested at the meet

location.

{¶7} On September 8, 2010, Appellant filed a motion to suppress statements

and evidence. On September 21, 2010, the state of Ohio filed a memorandum in

opposition to Appellant’s motion to suppress. Via Judgment of October 26, 2010, the

trial court granted Appellant’s motion to suppress. On November 1, 2010, Appellee

State filed a motion to clarify the court’s ruling on Appellant’s motion to suppress.

Appellant responded on November 22, 2010. Via Judgment Entry filed December 2,

2010, the trial court granted the State’s motion to clarify court’s ruling on Appellant’s

motion to suppress. The trial court concluded Appellant’s statements should be

suppressed, but any derivative physical evidence may be admissible at trial.

{¶8} Appellant was charged in the indictment with fifteen counts of pandering

sexually oriented matter involving a minor, in violation of R.C. 2907.322(A)(1)(counts 1,

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 29); ten counts of illegal use of minor in nudity- Delaware County, Case No. 11CAA070067 4

oriented material, in violation of R.C. 2907.323(A)(3) and (1)(counts 18, 19, 20, 21, 22,

23, 24, 25, 26, 27); and one count of importuning, in violation of R.C.

2907.07(D)(2)(count 17). The State dismissed counts 9, 16, and 28 prior to trial. Upon

Appellant’s Rule 29 Motion, the trial court found sufficient evidence of a lesser charge of

R.C. 2907.323 on count 4. Further, the Court granted the Rule 29 Motion to Dismiss on

counts 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24.

{¶9} The trial court found Appellant not guilty of counts 2, 8, 11 and 26, and

guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of counts 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, and 29 of the

indictment, in violation of R.C. 2907.322(A)(1), pandering sexually oriented matter

involving a minor, felonies of the second degree, and of counts 4 (lesser charge), 13

(lesser charge), 14 (lesser charge), 25 and 27, violations of R.C. 2907.323(A)(3),

felonies of the fifth degree, and of count 17, a violation of R.C. 2907.07(D)(2),

importuning, a felony of the fifth degree.

{¶10} At the sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced Appellant to a

consecutive collective prison term of four years and ten months in prison.

{¶11} Appellant now appeals, assigning as error:

{¶12} “I. THE ONLY RECOURSE AVAILABLE TO THE STATE WHEN THE

TRIAL COURT SUPPRESSED ALL EVIDENCE SEIZED WAS TO FILE A NOTICE OF

APPEAL AND CERTIFICATION AS THE STRICT REQUIREMENTS OF APP.R. 4(B)(4)

CANNOT BE CIRCUMVENTED.

{¶13} “II. IT WAS ERROR FOR THE TRIAL COURT TO PERMIT THE STATE

TO RAISE NEW ISSUES THROUGH A MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION AND THE Delaware County, Case No. 11CAA070067 5

TRIAL COURT WAS WITHOUT AUTHORITY TO RECONSIDER AND MODIFY ITS

PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FINAL APPEALABLE ORDER.

{¶14} “III. THE TRIAL COURT’S FINDING THAT THE DERIVATIVE EVIDENCE

SEIZED DURING THE EXECUTION OF THE SEARCH WARRANT WAS ADMISSIBLE

UNDER THE GOOD FAITH EXCEPTION TO THE EXCLUSIONARY RULE WAS

NEITHER SUPPORTED BY SUFFICIENT, CREDIBLE EVIDENCE OR THE

MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

{¶15} “IV. THE APPELLANT WAS DENIED HIS RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS OF

LAW WHEN THE TRIAL COURT RECONSIDERED AND MODIFIED ITS EARLIER

ORDER AND PERMITTED ORAL ARGUMENT UNDER THE GOOD FAITH

EXCEPTION TO THE EXCLUSIONARY RULE WITHOUT CONDUCTING A FURTHER

EVIDENTIARY HEARING.

{¶16} “V. APPELLANT’S CONVICTIONS FOR PANDERING SEXUALLY

ORIENTED MATTER INVOLVING A MINOR, IMPORTUNING, AND ILLEGAL USE OF

A MINOR IN A NUDITY-ORIENTED MATERIAL OR PERFORMANCE WERE NOT

SUPPORTED BY SUFFICIENT, CREDIBLE EVIDENCE AND THE TRIAL COURT

ERRED AND ABUSED ITS DISCRETION IN DENYING APPELLANT’S RULE 29

MOTION FOR ACQUITTAL.”

I. and II.

{¶17} Appellant’s first and second assignments of error raise common and

interrelated issues; therefore, we will address the arguments together.

{¶18} Appellant asserts the trial court erred in addressing the State’s motion for

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2012 Ohio 1931, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-renkes-ohioctapp-2012.