State v. Stone

2023 Ohio 3842
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 23, 2023
Docket2023-P-0018, 2023-P-0019
StatusPublished

This text of 2023 Ohio 3842 (State v. Stone) 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. Stone, 2023 Ohio 3842 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Stone, 2023-Ohio-3842.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT PORTAGE COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, CASE NOS. 2023-P-0018 CITY OF RAVENNA, 2023-P-0019

Plaintiff-Appellee, Criminal Appeals from the Municipal Court, Ravenna Division - vs -

NICHOLAS W. STONE, Trial Court Nos. 2022 CRB 02696 R 2022 CRB 02695 R Defendant-Appellant.

OPINION

Decided: October 23, 2023 Judgment: Affirmed in part and reversed in part

Victor V. Vigluicci, Portage County Prosecutor, and Pamela J. Holder, Assistant Prosecutor, 241 South Chestnut Street, Ravenna, OH 44266 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).

Cecily J. Mullins, Megargel, Eskridge & Mullins, LLP, 231 South Chestnut Street, Ravenna, OH 44266 (For Defendant-Appellant).

JOHN J. EKLUND, P.J.

{¶1} Appellant, Nicholas Stone, appeals his convictions of Disorderly Conduct

through Intoxication, a minor misdemeanor in violation of R.C. 2917.11(B)(2) in Case No.

2022 CRB 02695, and Disorderly Conduct, a fourth-degree felony in violation of R.C.

2917.11(A) in Case No. 2022 CRB 02696. Appellant specifically asserts that his

convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence and that the state failed to

present sufficient evidence to support his convictions. For the following reasons, the

judgments of the Ravenna Municipal Court are affirmed in part and reversed in part. {¶2} This appeal concerns two separate cases stemming from incidents

occurring on October 6, 2022.

{¶3} Case No. 2022 CRB 02695: Disorderly Conduct through Intoxication –

{¶4} Patrolman Adam Mohler testified for the state that on October 6, 2022,

Kevin Garlitz and a friend were walking by a parking lot behind a Huntington Bank in

Ravenna, Ohio. They saw Appellant behaving abnormally, became “worried,” and called

the police. Patrolman Mohler arrived at the scene. At trial, he described the interaction:

I found [Appellant]. He was -- you know, he appeared obviously impaired. He was leaning up against a van. There was spit on the window of the van. He was swaying back and forth. He couldn't even speak to me to where he was or what was going on or what he had taken. He just kept spitting on the ground, and at some point he told me he thought he was in Cuyahoga Falls, and we ended up calling him a squad because he was unable to care for himself and obviously had something was going on with him.

{¶5} Patrolman Mohler called for an ambulance and it transported Appellant to

UH Portage Medical Center. The police issued Appellant a citation for Disorderly Conduct

through Intoxication.

{¶6} Case No. 2022 CRB 02696: Disorderly Conduct –

{¶7} Patrolman James Novak testified for the state that on October 6, 2022, he

was patrolling the emergency department at UH Portage Medical Center when an

ambulance transported Appellant there. Patrolman Novak described Appellant’s actions

at the hospital:

He wasn't doing anything abrupt at that time, just was not acting quite right. When officers went back to the office and around the ED area, a panic alarm went off in the cat scan area. * * * I was the first one to respond. There was staff all around the Defendant holding him down as he was yelling and screaming. * * * The staff member said that he was kicking, was not cooperative and was spitting at them while he was cursing. * * * {Appellant] didn't want to cooperate, called all of 2

Case Nos. 2023-P-0018, 2023-P-0019 us, including me while he was saying it, and I quote, “faggot ass bitches” and “to go fuck ourselves.” * * * From there this officer had to help assist hold him down until we got him over into the other bed where some straps were put on. What I know is that he, the doctor, said that his thinking wasn't quite there and that when he was brought in he wasn't as alert as he was in the CT, and he wasn't making sound decisions, but there was something medically going on with him that they had to scan him. It was a life or death situation.

{¶8} The state asked Patrolman Novak if Appellant “had awareness to what was

happening around him?” Patrolman Novak replied: “At the CT Department, yes, he was

making eye contact. * * * CT scan he was completely with it when we took him back over

to the other room after the CT was complete. Shortly thereafter he went right back to

sleep.” The police issued Appellant a citation for Disorderly Conduct.

{¶9} On October 12, 2022, the Ravenna Municipal Court arraigned Appellant on

Case Nos. 2022 CRB 02695 and 2022 CRB 02696. Appellant pled not guilty on all

counts. On March 16, 2023, the court held a bench trial in both cases and found Appellant

guilty of committing Disorderly Conduct through Intoxication, a minor misdemeanor in

violation of R.C. 2917.11(B)(2) in Case No. 2022 CRB 02695, and Disorderly Conduct, a

fourth-degree felony in violation of R.C. 2917.11(A) in Case No. 2022 CRB 02696.

{¶10} Appellant timely appeals and raises two assignments of error. We consider

both assignments together.

{¶11} First assignment of error: “The trial court erred in convicting Appellant of

Disorderly Conduct and Disorderly Conduct by Intoxication as the record does not contain

sufficient evidence of each element of those offenses.”

{¶12} Second assignment of error: “Appellant’s convictions are against the

manifest weight of the evidence.”

Case Nos. 2023-P-0018, 2023-P-0019 {¶13} “‘Sufficiency’ is a term of art meaning that legal standard which is applied to

determine whether the case may go to the [factfinder] or whether the evidence is legally

sufficient to support the [factfinder's] verdict as a matter of law.” State v. Thompkins, 78

Ohio St.3d 380, 386, 678 N.E.2d 541 (1997), citing Black's Law Dictionary (6 Ed.1990)

1433. The appellate court's standard of review for sufficiency of evidence is to determine,

after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, whether a rational

trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable

doubt. State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492 (1991), paragraph two of the

syllabus.

{¶14} When evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence, we do not consider its

credibility or effect in inducing belief. Thompkins at 387. Rather, we decide whether, if

believed, the evidence can sustain the verdict as a matter of law. Id. This naturally entails

a review of the elements of the charged offense and a review of the state's evidence.

State v. Richardson, 150 Ohio St.3d 554, 2016-Ohio-8448, 84 N.E.3d 993, ¶ 13.

{¶15} When evaluating the weight of the evidence, we review whether the

inclination of the greater amount of credible evidence, offered in a trial, to support one

side of the issue rather than the other indicated clearly that the party having the burden

of proof was entitled to a verdict in its favor, if, on weighing the evidence in their minds,

the greater amount of credible evidence sustained the issue which is to be established

before them. “Weight is not a question of mathematics but depends on its effect in

inducing belief.” State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 387, 678 N.E.2d 541 (1997).

Whereas sufficiency relates to the evidence’s adequacy, weight of the evidence relates

the evidence’s persuasiveness. Id.

Case Nos.

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2023 Ohio 3842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stone-ohioctapp-2023.