State v. Struckman

2020 Ohio 1232
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 31, 2020
DocketC-180287
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2020 Ohio 1232 (State v. Struckman) 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. Struckman, 2020 Ohio 1232 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Struckman, 2020-Ohio-1232.] IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

STATE OF OHIO, : APPEAL NO. C-180287 TRIAL NO. B-1502231 Plaintiff-Appellee, : O P I N I O N. vs. :

BUDDY STRUCKMAN, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

Criminal Appeal From: Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas

Judgment Appealed From Is: Affirmed

Date of Judgment Entry on Appeal: March 31, 2020

Joseph T. Deters, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and Scott M. Heenan, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Plaintiff-Appellee,

Raymond T. Faller, Hamilton County Public Defender, and David Hoffmann, Assistant Public Defender, for Defendant-Appellant. OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS

M OCK , Presiding Judge.

{¶1} Following a jury trial, defendant-appellant Buddy Struckman was

convicted of two counts of unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance under R.C.

2923.17(A), namely an automatic weapon and a suppressor. He was also convicted

of two specifications under R.C. 2941.144 that he had possessed an automatic

firearm that was equipped with a suppressor. Struckman has filed a timely appeal

from those convictions. We find no merit in his three assignments of error, and we

affirm his convictions.

Factual Background

{¶2} The record shows that on April 20, 2015, Officer Drew Jones of the

Lockland Police Department received a dispatch about shots fired in the area of

Maple Street and Locust Avenue. Officer Jones had interacted with Struckman at a

house located at 622 Maple Street, which was near to that area. He and his partner

drove to that address to investigate.

{¶3} The officers received no response when they knocked on the door. At

that time, they noticed security cameras attached to the house and became worried

for their safety. The officers decided to call in the SWAT team. They also obtained a

search warrant for the premises.

{¶4} When the SWAT team approached the front door, they saw Struckman

on the first floor of the house near the front door. After they used “flash bangs,”

Struckman came out of the residence, and the SWAT team turned him over to the

Lockland police officers. Then the SWAT team entered to search for any people or

devices that would pose a threat to the police.

2 OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS

{¶5} After the SWAT team left, the Lockland police officers conducted their

search. The only part of the house that appeared to be habitable was the second

floor. The main living area was an eight-by-ten-foot room, a walkout front balcony.

In the room, the police officers found a couch, a coffee table, a rug, a television

monitor, and a microwave. They also found a garbage bag full of men’s clothing, a

suitcase, men’s shoes, empty drink cups, and empty fast-food bags.

{¶6} Under the couch cushions, the officers found a .45-caliber handgun.

There were nine rounds of ammunition in the gun’s ten-round magazine. Other

loaded magazines and a holster for the gun were also found in the room.

{¶7} The room had a small closet. Officer Jones found the closet door ajar,

and there was evidence that the SWAT team may have forced open the door. The

closet contained a suit jacket and men’s dress clothes.

{¶8} The officers also found a locked safe inside the closet. Inside the safe,

they found a .45-caliber MAC-10 machine gun, six loaded magazines of ammunition,

a suppressor that fit the machine gun, and a detached stock. They also found

approximately 600 rounds of .45-caliber ammunition. A firearm examiner from the

Hamilton County Coroner’s Office determined that the MAC-10 was a functioning

fully-automatic weapon. He also determined that the homemade suppressor was

made for that weapon.

{¶9} The officers waited several days to file charges against Struckman

because they first wanted to contact federal authorities. When they came to arrest

Struckman five days later, they found him at the house at 622 Maple Street, where

they had previously interacted with him.

3 OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS

Weight and Sufficiency

{¶10} In his first assignment of error, Struckman contends that his

convictions and the accompanying specifications were not supported by sufficient

evidence and were against the manifest weight of the evidence. He argues that he

state failed to prove that he had constructive possession of the automatic weapon

and the suppressor. This assignment of error is not well taken.

{¶11} Struckman was convicted of two counts of unlawful possession of a

dangerous ordnance under R.C. 2923.17(A), which states that “[n]o person shall

knowingly acquire, have, carry, or use any dangerous ordnance.” Former R.C.

2923.11(K)(1) and (5) defined an automatic weapon and a muffler or suppressor as

dangerous ordnances.

{¶12} To “have” a dangerous ordnance within the meaning of the statute, the

offender must actually or constructively possess it. State v. Williams, 197 Ohio

App.3d 505, 2011-Ohio-6267, 968 N.E.2d 27, ¶ 14 (1st Dist.). Courts have defined

constructive possession as “knowingly exercising dominion and control over an

object, even though the object is not within the person’s immediate physical

possession.” State v. English, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-080872, 2010-Ohio-1759, ¶

32, citing State v. Hankerson, 70 Ohio St.2d 87, 434 N.E.2d 1362 (1982), syllabus.

The person must be “conscious of the presence of the object.” Hankerson at 91;

Williams at ¶ 15. The state may prove dominion and control and consciousness of

the object by circumstantial evidence. Williams at ¶ 15; English at ¶ 32.

{¶13} As to the specifications, former R.C. 2941.144 provided for the

imposition of a six-year prison term if the indictment contained a specification that

“the offender had a firearm that is an automatic firearm or that was equipped with a

firearm muffler or suppressor on about the offender’s person or under the offender’s

4 OHIO FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEALS

control while committing the offense.” (Emphasis added.) This court has stated that

in proving a specification, the state need not show that the defendant actually

possessed a weapon, but instead may show constructive possession. See State v.

Jackson, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-140178, 2014-Ohio-5008, ¶ 18-19. Accord State v.

Walker, 10th Dist. Franklin No. 14AP-905, 2016-Ohio-3185, ¶ 63-64. In regard to

the firearm specification in R.C. 2941.141, we stated that “the state does not need to

demonstrate that the defendant used the firearm to commit a felony; all that is

required is that the defendant have the firearm on or about his person or under his

control ‘at some point’ during the commission of the crime.” English at ¶ 28, quoting

State v. Harry, 12th Dist. Butler No. CA2008-01-0013, 2008-Ohio-6380, ¶ 53.

{¶14} The state presented circumstantial evidence to show that Struckman

was living on the second floor of the property at 622 Maple Street, where police

found the dangerous ordnances. The other two floors of the house were

uninhabitable. The first floor was under construction, and the third floor was used

as a chicken coop. The house was owned at the time by Struckman’s ex-wife. The

police officers testified that they frequently encountered Struckman there. They

knew him well due to complaints by the neighbors about him and his own

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Related

State v. Elliott
2022 Ohio 3778 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2022)
State v. Struckman
2020 Ohio 1232 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)

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2020 Ohio 1232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-struckman-ohioctapp-2020.