State v. Sullivan

2025 Ohio 643
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided February 27, 2025·No. 113834·Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO

EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

STATE OF OHIO, :

Plaintiff-Appellee, :

No. 113834

v. :

KHAYREE SULLIVAN, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED AND REMANDED RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: February 27, 2025

Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-23-685204-A

Appearances:

Michael C. O’Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Mallory Buelow and Chauncey Keller, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, for appellee.

Friedman, Gilbert & Gerhardstein, Marcus Sidoti, and Alex Ugolini, for appellant.

KATHLEEN ANN KEOUGH, J.:

After three days of deliberation, the jury found defendant-appellant, Khayree Sullivan, not guilty of three counts of the indictment filed under Cuyahoga C.P. No. CR-23-685204-A and could not reach a verdict as to the remaining five counts. Sullivan moved to dismiss those remaining counts on the grounds that any further proceeding would violate the double-jeopardy protections guaranteed to him by the United States and Ohio Constitutions. The trial court denied his motion and this appeal followed. For the reasons that follow, this court affirms the trial court’s judgment. I. Procedural History In October 2023, the State named Sullivan, and his codefendant Kameren White (“White”), in an eight-count indictment, charging them both with offenses that occurred on September 21, 2023, when Sullivan and White allegedly shot at E.S., G.L., and K.L., a six-month-old child, resulting in injury to both E.S. and K.L. The indictment charged:

Count 1: discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, with a serious physical harm finding, in violation of R.C. 2923.162(A)(3), identifying E.S. as the victim;

Count 2: felonious assault, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(1), identifying E.S. as the victim;

Count 3: discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, with a serious physical harm finding, in violation of R.C. 2923.162(A)(3), identifying K.L. as the victim;

Count 4: felonious assault, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(1), identifying K.L. as the victim;

Count 5: felonious assault, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2), identifying E.S. as the victim;

Count 6: felonious assault, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2), identifying K.L. as the victim;

Count 7: felonious assault, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2), identifying G.L. as the victim; and

Count 8: discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, with a substantial risk of physical harm to any person or to property finding, in violation of R.C. 2923.162(A)(3).

Each charge carried both one- and three-year firearm specifications.

The case proceeded to a joint trial, where the jury considered testimony from 16 witnesses and reviewed over 150 exhibits.1 Relevant to the appeal, the State presented at trial that on September 21, 2023, White and Marvin Bell (“Bell”) were riding in a vehicle driven by Sullivan, when they drove past E.S., who was pushing his six-month-old daughter in a stroller. G.L., the child’s mother, was walking further ahead of them. Sullivan did a U-turn in the street and stopped the vehicle alongside E.S., and a verbal altercation ensued. According to Bell, E.S. started to pull a firearm from his cross-body bag, causing White to question E.S., “[Y]ou pulling?” E.S. testified that he was not reaching for a gun but putting his Airpods and phone into his bag because he believed he was about to fight White; conflicting testimony was presented whether E.S. told the men that he did not have a gun. Nevertheless, Sullivan reached into his vehicle, grabbed his firearm, and shot toward E.S. According to Bell, White also discharged his firearm toward E.S., but believed that the men were aiming for the ground. In response, E.S. ran, pushing the stroller down the street, and retreating into a driveway. According to E.S., he was shot as he neared the driveway, but he did not see who shot him. G.L. had

1 The trial exhibits are not part of the App.R. 9(B) record. Pursuant to Cuyahoga C.P., Gen.Div., Loc.R. 29(F), the parties retained their own exhibits. Neither Sullivan nor the State requested to supplement the record with their retained trial exhibits.

already fled when she heard the gunfire, also running up a driveway. When she saw E.S., G.L. grabbed the stroller, removed her child, and observed that the child had been shot.

Sullivan and White advanced at trial that they acted in self-defense when they discharged their firearms because they believed that E.S. reached for or pulled a firearm from his bag affixed around his body. They supported their defense with testimony and evidence that as they fled the scene and drove past E.S. who was standing in the driveway, additional sounds of gunfire were recorded by a Ring Doorbell camera. The defense argued that those gunshots were from the firearm that E.S. possessed and any injury sustained by E.S. or K.L. could have been from those additional gunshots. The jury received an instruction on use of deadly force in self-defense. (Tr. 1266.)

After two days of deliberations, the jury notified the trial court that they were deadlocked on some counts, but reached a verdict as to others. (Tr. 1376.) After receiving a Howard charge, the jury deliberated for another day to no avail — they were “hopelessly deadlocked” on certain counts. (Tr. 1380.)

On March 8, 2024, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on Counts 1, 2, and 7 for both Sullivan and White. The jury did not reach a verdict on Counts 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8, and, thus the court declared a mistrial on those counts. The State notified the trial court that it intended to retry Sullivan and White on those counts, causing the trial court to schedule a trial date.

On March 25, 2024, Sullivan moved to dismiss the remaining charges against him, contending that proceeding to a second trial would violate the double- jeopardy protections guaranteed to him by the United States and Ohio Constitutions. The State opposed.

The trial court denied Sullivan’s motion, and this appeal followed.2 II. The Appeal In his sole assignment of error, Sullivan contends that as a result of the jury verdict, the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution bar the State from retrying him on any of the remaining charges contained in the indictment.

A. Standard of Review The denial of a motion to dismiss on double-jeopardy grounds is a final appealable order subject to immediate de novo appellate review. State v. Anderson, 2014-Ohio-542, ¶ 26; State v. Morris, 2012-Ohio-2407, ¶ 16.

B. Double Jeopardy and Collateral Estoppel The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article I, Section 10 of the Ohio Constitution protect a defendant from being put in jeopardy twice for the same offense. In re A.G., 2016- Ohio-3306, ¶ 8. “‘The protections afforded by the double-jeopardy clauses of the

2 White joined in Sullivan’s motion to dismiss, which the trial court also denied.

White has filed his own appeal under State v. White, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 113897.

Ohio and U.S. Constitutions are ‘coextensive.’” State v. Fisher, 2024-Ohio-4484 ¶ 204 (8th Dist.) quoting State v. Mutter, 2017-Ohio-2928, ¶ 15.

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