State v. Tabassum

2011 Ohio 6790
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 30, 2011
Docket25568
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2011 Ohio 6790 (State v. Tabassum) 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. Tabassum, 2011 Ohio 6790 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Tabassum, 2011-Ohio-6790.]

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COUNTY OF SUMMIT )

STATE OF OHIO C.A. No. 25568

Appellee

v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT ENTERED IN THE JAWAID TABASSUM COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO Appellant CASE No. CR 10 04 0925

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY

Dated: December 30, 2011

MOORE, Judge.

{¶1} Appellant, Jawaid Tabassum, appeals from the judgment of the Summit County

Court of Common Pleas. This Court affirms.

I.

{¶2} On January 22, 2010, Fred Morehead walked into a convenience store owned and

operated by Jawaid Tabassum. Morehead purchased three “scratch off” lottery tickets and left

the store. When he went across the street to a café and scratched off one of the tickets, he

discovered he had won $1000. He returned to the convenience store to collect the money. When

Morehead presented the winning ticket, Tabassum told him he would cash the ticket but would

deduct $300 for taxes. Tabassum then gave Morehead $700. Morehead is unemployed, and has

a payee for his social security disability benefits related to mental health impairments.

{¶3} On April 12, 2010, Tabassum was indicted on the charge of theft from a disabled

adult in violation of R.C. 2913.02(A)(3), a felony of the fifth degree. The case proceeded to jury 2

trial, and on June 29, 2010, the jury found Tabassum guilty of theft and determined that

Morehead was a disabled adult within the meaning of the statute. On August 2, 2010, together

with restitution and other sanctions, the trial court sentenced Tabassum to twelve months of

incarceration which the court suspended upon the condition that Tabassum complete one year of

community control.

{¶4} Tabassum timely filed a notice of appeal and raises six assignments of error for

our review. We have consolidated the first and second assignments of error and rearranged the

remaining assignments of error for ease of discussion.

II.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR I

“THE COURT ERRONEOUSLY DENIED [TABASSUM]’S RULE 29 MOTION FOR ACQUITTAL AS THE STATE DID NOT PROVE FELONY THEFT BY DECEPTION FROM A DISABLED ADULT AS THERE WAS NOT ANY DOCUMENTATION OR TESTIMONY FROM A BONAFIDE AGENT OF ANY STATE OR FEDERAL AGENCY OR ANYONE ELSE WHO ATTESTED TO THE CERTIFICATION OF [] MOREHEAD AS PERMANENTLY AND TOTALLY DISABLED WHICH IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE COUNT CHARGED IN THE INDICTMENT. THUS, [] TABASSUM’S CONVICTION FOR THEFT FROM A DISABLED PERSON IS AGAINST THE SUFFICIENCY AND/OR WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED AT TRIAL. THE STATE FAILED TO PRESENT SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE STATE’S VICTIM WAS A DISABLED ADULT AS DEFINED BY R.C. 2913.01(DD) .”

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR II

“THE COURT ERRONEOUSLY DENIED [TABASSUM]’S RULE 29 MOTION FOR ACQUITTAL AS THE STATE DID NOT PROVE DECEPTION AS THE LOTTERY TICKET IN QUESTION BELONGED TO [TABASSUM] AND NOT TO [MOREHEAD] AND [TABASSUM] DID IN FACT FOLLOW THE APPROPRIATE PROCEDURES AS TO THAT TICKET.”

{¶5} In his first and second assignment of error, Tabassum argues that his conviction

was not supported by sufficient evidence. Specifically, he argues that the State failed to prove

that the victim was a disabled adult and that Tabassum engaged in deception. We do not agree. 3

Although, in the statement of his first assignment of error, Tabassum raises the issue of manifest

weight, his arguments pertain only to the sufficiency of the evidence, and we limit our discussion

accordingly. See App.R. 16(A)(7) and App.R. 12(A)(2). However, a broader discussion of the

manifest weight of the evidence is set forth in response to Tabassum’s fourth assignment of error

below.

{¶6} A motion pursuant to Crim.R. 29 tests the sufficiency of the evidence presented

by the State. State v. Thompkins (1997), 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 386. The issue of whether a

conviction is supported by sufficient evidence is a question of law, which we review de novo.

Id. When considering a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, the court must determine

whether the prosecution has met its burden of production. Id. at 390 (Cook, J. concurring). In

making this determination, an appellate court must view the evidence in the light most favorable

to the prosecution:

“An appellate court’s function when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, would convince the average mind of the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. Jenks (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 259, paragraph two of the syllabus.

{¶7} Here, Tabassum challenges his conviction for theft from a disabled adult in

violation of R.C. 2913.02(A)(3), which provides, “No person, with purpose to deprive the owner

of property or services, shall knowingly obtain or exert control over either the property or

services * * * by deception[.]” R.C. 2913.02(B)(3) provides that “theft from an elderly person or

disabled adult is a felony of the fifth degree.” A “disabled adult” is defined in R.C. 2913.01(DD)

as, 4

“a person who is eighteen years of age or older and has some impairment of body or mind that makes the person unable to work at any substantially remunerative employment that the person otherwise would be able to perform and that will, with reasonable probability, continue for a period of at least twelve months without any present indication of recovery from the impairment, or who is eighteen years of age or older and has been certified as permanently and totally disabled by an agency of this state or the United States that has the function of so classifying persons.”

{¶8} R.C 2913.01(A) defines “deception” as,

“knowingly deceiving another or causing another to be deceived by any false or misleading representation, by withholding information, by preventing another from acquiring information, or by any other conduct, act, or omission that creates, confirms, or perpetuates a false impression in another, including a false impression as to law, value, state of mind, or other objective or subjective fact.”

{¶9} As part of the State’s case-in-chief, it provided the testimony of Morehead, Buddy

Conley, Bobbie Wamsley, Kathy Harper, and Justin Morris. Morehead testified that he is forty-

nine years old. He does not work and receives a total of $494 at the beginning of each month

from Social Security and SSI because he suffers from anxiety, and he is bipolar and a depressant

schizophrenic. He sometimes does “side jobs,” resulting in earnings of $5 to $15 per job. In the

past, Morehead had panhandled, but he made very little money doing so; the most he has ever

made was $75.

{¶10} On January 22, 2010, Morehead was interested in renting a room from Conley.

Conley wanted $250 to rent the room, and Conley needed to borrow $50 to fix his truck.

However, Morehead only had $5 in quarters at that time.

{¶11} Later that day, Morehead was at the South Street Express, where he purchased

instant lottery tickets from Tabassum, who owns the store. He scratched off some tickets in the

store, but he did not win on those tickets. He then left the store and went across the street to

Hope Cafe, a church-run coffee house. There, he scratched off his last ticket. He recognized the

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2011 Ohio 6790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tabassum-ohioctapp-2011.