State v. Robinson, Unpublished Decision (1-28-2005)

2005 Ohio 324
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 28, 2005
DocketNo. L-02-1314.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2005 Ohio 324 (State v. Robinson, Unpublished Decision (1-28-2005)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Robinson, Unpublished Decision (1-28-2005), 2005 Ohio 324 (Ohio Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

DECISION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY
{¶ 1} This case is before the court on appeal from the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas, which entered a judgment and sentenced appellant following a jury verdict finding her guilty of murder and aggravated robbery. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the decision of the trial court.

{¶ 2} In 2002, appellant Christina Robinson was indicted in a two-count complaint for the murder and aggravated robbery of Aaron Jaquillard. Both counts included firearms specifications. Though the evidence was clear that Jaquillard died as a result of gunshot wounds, the jury found appellant guilty of the murder and the aggravated robbery but found her not guilty on the firearm specifications. Appellant contends that the verdict was thus against the manifest weight of the evidence and violative of due process, and she also complains of error in the jury instructions and in sentencing.

{¶ 3} Aaron Jaquillard was killed in April 2001, when he went to collect drug money at the home of appellant and Christopher Johnson. Jaquillard was shot three times, once in the stomach, once in the back, and once in the head. The shot to the head was instantly fatal, though the others, left untreated, were certainly fatal as well. Appellant and Johnson gave differing testimony about the killing.

{¶ 4} Johnson testified that Jaquillard called him on April 12, 2001, demanding the $1,000 that Johnson owed him for cocaine. According to Johnson, Jaquillard indicated that he would come by Johnson's home at about 2:30 a.m. on April 13 to collect the money. Johnson testified that Jaquillard threatened Johnson, appellant, appellant's daughter, and Johnson's grandparents if he did not get the money owed to him when he came over. Johnson was able to pull together about $700 but could not get the rest. Both he and appellant took the threats seriously and were both scared. They discussed killing Jaquillard when he came to collect the money. The following exchange took place during Johnson's direct testimony:

{¶ 5} "Q: Was there a plan to shoot Aaron Jaquillard when he was coming over that night?

{¶ 6} "A: We had talked about it, yes.

{¶ 7} "Q: Did you expect or plan on doing it?

{¶ 8} "A: No. I really didn't think we were going to go through with that. I thought it was talk.

{¶ 9} "Q: But it was certainly going to be possible. You had a gun, right?

{¶ 10} "A: Yes. We talked about it because of the way the threats were towards, you know, the grandparents, her [appellant's] child.

{¶ 11} "Q: Okay.

{¶ 12} "A: But I thought it was just more that we were — we were both mad, you know, at him, you know, that kind of talk."

{¶ 13} A similar exchange took place on cross-examination:

{¶ 14} "Q: Had you thought about maybe getting the people out of your house and going over to [a relative's] before Aaron got there?

{¶ 15} "A: No.

{¶ 16} "Q: Had you thought about getting the people out of your house and going anywhere else than waiting there for Aaron Jaquillard?

{¶ 17} "A: No.

{¶ 18} "Q: This thought never crossed your mind?

{¶ 19} "A: Huh-uh.

{¶ 20} "Q: But the thought to conspire, as you told us, with [appellant] to kill him, that's the thought you had at the time?

{¶ 21} "A: I didn't think it was going to come to that. I thought it was just talk that we was — because we were both upset about what he had said. I didn't think that was going to transpire like that. I thought we could have worked it out with him, could have gave him the money I had, could have worked it out.

{¶ 22} "Q: Didn't you just tell us before lunch that you and [appellant] planned to kill him when he came over, because of these threats?

{¶ 23} "A: Yes.

{¶ 24} "Q: When did the two of you come up with this plan?

{¶ 25} "A: After he had threatened me."

{¶ 26} Later, Johnson testified that he and appellant talked about killing Jaquillard "throughout the day" preceding the murder. However, he again testified that he did not think they would go through with it.

{¶ 27} According to Johnson, when Jaquillard came to the house at 2:30 a.m. on April 13, he (Johnson) gave Jaquillard what he had of the money and Jaquillard was not happy. At this point, appellant appeared and shot Jaquillard in the back and then in the stomach. Johnson testified that he was "shocked." He testified that appellant then gave the gun to him and told him to shoot Jaquillard because he (Johnson) was "part of this." Appellant also indicated, according to Johnson, that she shot Jaquillard because "that's what [they] had talked about." Because he was scared of what would happen to him if Jaquillard lived, Johnson shot him in the head. Then, according to Johnson, appellant took Jaquillard's wallet and his money and later gave Johnson "a few hundred dollars" from it.

{¶ 28} Johnson testified that after Jaquillard died, he pulled his body out the back door and onto the porch. Appellant pulled Jaquillard's vehicle up to the back porch, and the two of them got Jaquillard's body into his own vehicle. Johnson then pulled up the blood-soaked carpeting and put it on the back porch. Appellant told Johnson that she would clean up the mess in the house and he should drive Jaquillard's body somewhere, suggesting that he put the car into water. Not finding that feasible, Johnson drove Jaquillard's car to a remote area in Erie, Michigan, and left him there with the car running. He returned home on foot. When he arrived home, his gun was wrapped in flannel and was under his bed. Appellant was cleaning blood off the floor and walls. They dragged the bloody carpeting out behind the garage and set it underneath some brush and some old pallets. They put some of the carpet padding and the victim's shoes out to the curb for the garbage pick-up that day. Some of Jaquillard's family members began calling and coming to the house inquiring about his whereabouts, and Johnson and appellant denied having seen him that day. The two of them then went to a relative's house and were arrested within a day or so.

{¶ 29} Appellant's testimony sharply diverged from Johnson's testimony. She testified that on April 12, the day before the murder, Johnson told her that Jaquillard had called and was angry about money that he (Johnson) owed him. He told appellant that he only owed Jaquillard $100. There was no discussion of killing or injuring Jaquillard. When Jaquillard came to the house at about 2:30 a.m. the next morning, appellant was in her room getting ready for bed. She heard a gunshot and ran out into the living room. She testified that she saw a man on the floor and Johnson standing over him pointing a gun at his stomach. She testified that she observed Johnson shoot Jaquillard in the stomach, but she only heard the other two shots. According to appellant, she was shocked, and she went toward the phone, stopping when Johnson pointed the gun at her and yelled. She ran back in the bedroom. When the shooting was over, she told Johnson that they needed to call an ambulance, and Johnson told her, "He's dead.

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Bluebook (online)
2005 Ohio 324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-robinson-unpublished-decision-1-28-2005-ohioctapp-2005.