State v. Rosales

2018 Ohio 197
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 19, 2018
Docket27117
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 2018 Ohio 197 (State v. Rosales) 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. Rosales, 2018 Ohio 197 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Rosales, 2018-Ohio-197.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT MONTGOMERY COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO : : Plaintiff-Appellee : Appellate Case No. 27117 : v. : Trial Court Case No. 15-CR-2346/1 : AVELARDO ROSALES : (Criminal Appeal from : Common Pleas Court) Defendant-Appellant : :

...........

OPINION

Rendered on the 19th day of January, 2018.

MATHIAS H. HECK, JR., by MICHAEL J. SCARPELLI, Atty. Reg. No. 0093662, Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, Appellate Division, Montgomery County Courts Building, 301 West Third Street, 5th Floor, Dayton, Ohio 45402 Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee

LUCAS WILDER, Atty. Reg. No. 0074057, 120 West Second Street, 400 Liberty Tower, Dayton, Ohio 45402 Attorney for Defendant-Appellant

AVELARDO ROSALES, P.O. Box 7010, Chillicothe, OH 45601 Defendant-Appellant, Pro Se

............. -2-

HALL, J.

{¶ 1} Avelardo Rosales appeals from his conviction and sentence on one count of

felony murder, one count of felonious assault, one count of discharging a firearm into a

habitation, and two firearm specifications.

{¶ 2} Rosales’ appointed appellate counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v.

California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), asserting the absence of

any non-frivolous issues for our review. We notified Rosales of the Anders filing and gave

him an opportunity to file his own brief. Rosales responded with a pro se brief in which he

raises seven assignments of error.

{¶ 3} The present appeal stems from a shooting that occurred outside a Huffman

Avenue apartment on the evening of August 2, 2015. Prior to the shooting, Amanda

Draughn was inside the apartment with several other people, including Jeremy Combs,

John Humble, and her brother, Dallas Draughn. Around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., Rosales arrived

with two other individuals to sell Amanda some Xanax pills. Before the transaction took

place, an argument or minor altercation occurred between Humble and Rosales. The

incident resulted in Rosales and his companions abruptly leaving.

{¶ 4} Amanda Draughn called Rosales after he had left to ask what had happened.

Rosales accused her of attempting to “set him up.” She denied the allegation and agreed

to meet him at a gas station just down the street to purchase the Xanax. After she walked

to the gas station, Rosales arrived in the passenger seat of a blue pick-up truck. Rosales

exited the truck, asked if Humble was still at the apartment, and requested his phone

number. Amanda instead gave Combs’ number to Rosales, who told her to remain at the

gas station while he went to talk to Humble. According to Amanda, Rosales then sped -3-

down Huffman Avenue toward her apartment. She had a “bad feeling” and began running

after the truck. Amanda testified at trial that the truck remained in her sight the entire time

and that she saw it stop in front of her apartment. As she approached, she saw Rosales

roll down the passenger window and shoot her brother Dallas Draughn, who was on the

porch with Combs. She testified that she reached Dallas while the shooting was in

progress and that the blue pick-up truck sped away after her brother was shot. Amanda

also testified that Dallas made statements to her about being in pain.

{¶ 5} For his part, Combs testified that he was upstairs in the apartment when he

heard the gunshots. He ran outside and saw Dallas on the ground and a blue pick-up

truck in the road. Combs recalled hearing Dallas say only “Mexicans.” Combs further

testified that he saw Amanda Draughn still running toward them and that she arrived

quickly. Dallas Draughn later was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

{¶ 6} One of the shots fired struck fifteen-year-old K.M., who lived in the apartment

next door to Amanda Draughn. K.M. testified that he was on a couch in his grandmother’s

living room when he heard gunshots and a bullet passed through his arm. K.M.’s

grandmother testified that she later observed multiple bullet holes in her apartment and

found actual fired bullets. Investigators found ten spent .45 caliber shell casings on a

sidewalk in front of the apartment building. A firearm examiner with the Miami Valley

Regional Crime Lab opined that the casings were from the same firearm.

{¶ 7} Later that night or in the early morning hours of the next day, Rosales showed

up unexpectedly at the home of Juanita Buschorn, the grandmother of a child Rosales

had with Buschorn’s daughter. Buschorn testified that Rosales seemed upset and said,

“Juanita, I think I just killed somebody.” Rosales exited her house soon thereafter without -4-

saying where he was going. Amanda Draughn testified that she also spoke to Rosales

shortly after the shooting. According to Amanda, he called and told her that he did not

mean to kill Dallas and that the bullet was intended for John Humble.

{¶ 8} Amanda also spoke to police on the night of the shooting and identified

Rosales as the gunman. After obtaining Rosales’ cell phone number, detectives secured

“ping” data for his phone and tracked his travel. The first ping occurred around 1:00 a.m.

near the intersection of Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 127 in Preble County. Based on

subsequent pings, detectives determined that Rosales was heading west toward

Indianapolis. They pursued him to a location east of Indianapolis, where the pinging

stopped near several hotels and other businesses. The detectives learned that Rosales

had stopped at a hotel to pick up a relative before continuing west. The detectives then

discontinued their pursuit and returned to Dayton. Upon their return, however, they

received a ping from a location west of St. Louis, Missouri. The information was forwarded

to Missouri detectives who quickly located Rosales working with a roofing crew and

arrested him.

{¶ 9} While in jail in Missouri awaiting his return to Ohio, Rosales made a number

of phone calls, which were recorded. Some of the calls included discussions of the

shooting and contained incriminating statements by Rosales. On one call, he dismissed

the possibility of claiming self-defense because his actions would seem premeditated. He

also disputed a news account that the incident was a drive-by shooting. He stated: “No, I

stood there and did my thing; we didn’t drive by.” In another call, Rosales stated that he

“just let it loose” and that he “still wanted to go back and fix up the other one.” In another

call, Rosales stated that he was still mad and that he would “do it all over again if I had -5-

to.” In yet another call, he stated: “Well, now they know that I ain’t [no] f***ing b***h. They

all f***ing know. They know that. [A]t least [sic]. I didn’t take care of [unclear] don’t mean

I ain’t going to take care of everybody else that crossed the line.”

{¶ 10} Based on the evidence presented, a jury found Rosales guilty of multiple

counts of felony murder and felonious assault, improperly discharging a firearm into a

habitation, and several three-year firearm specifications. The jury found Rosales not guilty

of discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises and a five-year firearm

specification. After merging multiple counts of murder and felonious assault, the trial court

imposed a sentence of fifteen years to life in prison for one count of felony murder, six

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2018 Ohio 197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rosales-ohioctapp-2018.