State v. Simmons

939 N.E.2d 869, 189 Ohio App. 3d 532
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 22, 2010
DocketNo. 93331
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 939 N.E.2d 869 (State v. Simmons) 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. Simmons, 939 N.E.2d 869, 189 Ohio App. 3d 532 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Mary Eileen Kilbane, Presiding Judge.

{¶ 1} Appellant, Sylvester Simmons, appeals his conviction and sentence on four counts of aggravated burglary, four counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of kidnapping, and five counts of robbery. He argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for acquittal when there was insufficient evidence to convict him, that the trial court did not follow R.C. 2911.11 and 2911.12 in sentencing him, and that his counsel was ineffective for failing to argue that his sentence was disproportionate. After carefully reviewing the law and facts, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

Statement of the Case and Facts

{¶ 2} On January 30, 2009, a Cuyahoga County grand jury charged Simmons in a 54-count indictment.

{¶ 3} Count 1 alleged aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2911.11(A)(1); Count 2 alleged aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2911.01(A)(3); Count 3 alleged kidnapping, a first-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2905.01(A)(2); Count 4 alleged robbery, a second-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2911.02(A)(2); Count 5 alleged tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony, in violation of R.C. 2921.12(A)(1); Count 6 alleged assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, in violation of R.C. 2903.13(C)(3); Counts 7 through 18 alleged aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies, in violation of R.C. 2911.01(A)(3); Counts 19 through 30 alleged aggravated robbery, third-degree felonies, in violation of R.C. 2911.01(A)(3); Counts 31 through 42 alleged robbery, second-degree felonies, in violation of R.C. 2911.02(A)(2); Counts 43 through 54 alleged kidnapping, first-degree felonies, in violation of R.C. 2905.01.

{¶ 4} On March 16, 2009, Simmons executed a jury waiver.

{¶ 5} On April 13, 2009, Simmons proceeded to a trial before the court.

{¶ 6} On April 15, 2009, the trial court granted Simmons’s Crim.R. 29 motion for acquittal regarding Counts 5 and 6.

{¶ 7} On April 16, 2009, the trial court found Simmons guilty of 17 counts as charged in the indictment: four counts of aggravated burglary (Counts 1, 7, 8, and 9), four counts of aggravated robbery (Counts 2, 19, 20, and 21), four counts of kidnapping (Counts 3, 43, 44, and 45), and five counts of robbery (Counts 4, 31, 32, 33, and 38).

[534]*534{¶ 8} On April 20, 2009, the trial court sentenced Simmons to a 32-year term of incarceration. This appeal followed. The following facts were developed at trial.

Trial

{¶ 9} The victim, Aubrey Nelson, is a 67-year-old retiree from TRW who lives on Wickford Road in Cleveland, Ohio. He testified that he receives approximately $1,510 a month in retirement and social security benefits. Nelson testified that he knew Simmons and the two codefendants, Freddie Crumbley and Bennie Marshall, because they all grew up on Wickford Road. Nelson testified that he sometimes gave them money so that they could “get their life started.” However, between 2007 and 2008, Simmons and his codefendants began regularly demanding money from Nelson and visited him only when he received his checks in the mail.

{¶ 10} Nelson testified that on one occasion, after the fall of 2008, Simmons threw him on the floor, reached into his pocket, and took out money. Though he admitted that he willingly gave them some money, Nelson further testified that Simmons and the other codefendants ultimately took between $2,300 and $2,400 from him. Nelson testified that Simmons even took his garage door in October or November 2007 and took his refrigerator in December 2007 or January 2008. Though Nelson admitted that he initially gave Simmons and his codefendants permission to use his refrigerator for a party, they never returned it.

{¶ 11} During this time, Nelson’s neighbors began to see that both Nelson and his home were falling into disrepair and that he was losing a significant amount of weight. Nelson’s neighbor, Lisa Arnold, testified that she began feeding Nelson and lending him money out of concern for him and that such things had never before occurred in over 20 years of being his neighbor. Arnold testified that by December 2008, she fed Nelson on a daily basis.

{¶ 12} Another neighbor, Ronald Jones, testified that he approached Simmons and Crumbley one day in the summer of 2008, as they exited Nelson’s home, and made them return $300 they had just taken from Nelson.

{¶ 13} Donovan Boddy, also a neighbor, testified that in the winter of 2008, he saw Simmons grab Nelson and hit him twice while demanding money.

{¶ 14} After meeting with Nelson’s concerned neighbors, the Cleveland Police Department’s Fifth District Vice Unit agreed to set up a surveillance detail inside Nelson’s house for when he would receive his next retirement check.

{¶ 15} On January 2, 2009, Detectives Robert Martin and Sean Smith had just locked the back door of Nelson’s house, and did not even have their surveillance equipment set up, when Simmons and Crumbley appeared. After Nelson refused to let them in, Simmons and Crumbley began forcefully banging and kicking on [535]*535the back door of the house. Simmons stated: “Open the door or we are going to f*** you up. Open the door, you know what’s going to happen if you don’t open the door.” After fading to gain entrance to Nelson’s home through the back door, Simmons and Crumbley broke down Nelson’s side door by kicking the door’s hinges off the wall. They then kicked through an interior door that was locked by a chain link and held up by a ladder.

{¶ 16} Once inside, Simmons and Crumbley grabbed Nelson by the shirt and pushed him toward the back door of the house, at which time Detectives Martin and Smith made their presence known. A struggle ensued, and Simmons fled as the detectives arrested Crumbley. A short time later, detectives found Simmons hiding in a closet in an apartment on Alcoy Avenue, a few blocks away. After another struggle, Simmons was arrested. Once arrested, Simmons stated: “If I’m going down for this sh**, they are all going down * * * even my sister has been robbing him.”

Law and Analysis

{¶ 17} Simmons’s first assignment of error states:

The trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion for acquittal where the evidence is not sufficient to support a conviction.

{¶ 18} Simmons argues that the trial court erred in denying his Crim.R. 29 motion because the state failed to prove that he committed any criminal activity between January 1, 2008, and January 31, 2008, or from March 18, 2008, to March 31, 2008.

{¶ 19} The standard of review for a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence was set forth in State v. Bridgeman (1978), 55 Ohio St.2d 261, 9 O.O.3d 401, 381 N.E.2d 184. “Pursuant to Crim.R. 29(A), a court shall not order an entry of judgment of acquittal if the evidence is such that reasonable minds can reach different conclusions as to whether each material element of a crime has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at syllabus.

{¶ 20} In State v. Bradley, 8th Dist. No. 87024, 2006-Ohio-4589, 2006 WL 2567673, we stated:

Bridgeman must be interpreted in light of the sufficiency test outlined in State v. Jenks (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 259[, 574 N.E.2d 492

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Bluebook (online)
939 N.E.2d 869, 189 Ohio App. 3d 532, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-simmons-ohioctapp-2010.