State v. Topp

2025 Ohio 2388
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided July 7, 2025·No. 7-24-11·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

HENRY COUNTY

STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 7-24-11

PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,

v.

BRIAN E. TOPP, OPINION AND JUDGMENT ENTRY

DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Appeal from Henry County Common Pleas Court Trial Court No. 24 CR 0008

Judgment Reversed and Cause Remanded Date of Decision: July 7, 2025

APPEARANCES:

Andrew R. Mayle and Nichole Papageorgiou for Appellant Gwen Howe-Gebers for Appellee

WALDICK, P.J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Brian Topp (“Topp”), appeals the September 23, 2024 judgment of conviction and sentence entered against him in the Henry County Court of Common Pleas, following a jury trial in which Topp was found guilty of Grand Theft. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse.

Procedural History

{¶2} This case originated on January 31, 2024, when a Henry County grand jury returned a single-count indictment charging Topp with Grand Theft, a felony of the fourth degree in violation of R.C. 2913.02(A)(2) and (B)(2).

{¶3} On February 21, 2024, an arraignment was held and Topp entered a plea of not guilty to the indictment.

{¶4} On August 20, 2024, a jury trial commenced in the case. During the course of the two-day trial, the prosecution presented the testimony of 10 witnesses and introduced a number of exhibits. At the close of the state’s case, the prosecution moved to amend the indictment with regard to the alleged victims specified therein. The defense did not oppose the requested amendment, and the trial court granted the state’s motion. The defense then presented the testimony of one witness before resting its case.

{¶5} On August 21, 2024, at 6:53 p.m., the jury returned a verdict finding Topp guilty as charged in the amended indictment. The trial court accepted the verdict, discharged the jury, and ordered a presentence investigation.

{¶6} On September 23, 2024, a sentencing hearing was held and Topp was sentenced to a two-year term of community control.

{¶7} On October 2, 2024, Topp filed the instant appeal.

Summary of Trial Proceedings

{¶8} The single-count indictment filed in this case on January 31, 2024 alleged in relevant part as follows:

BRIAN E. TOPP, on or about January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023, at the county of Henry aforesaid, did with purpose to deprive the owner, John Doe & John Doe, DBA Brick n Brew &/or Property Prepers, of property or services, to wit: Money & Services, knowingly obtain or exert control over either the property or services beyond the scope of the express or implied consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent in violation of Ohio Revised Code §2913.02(A)(2), 2913.02(B)(2), Grand Theft, F4.

FURTHERMORE, the property or services stolen is valued at seven thousand five hundred dollars or more and less than one hundred fifty thousand dollars.

(Docket No. 1).

{¶9} At trial, the prosecution’s theory of the case was that Topp was a member of two limited liability companies, Property Prepers, LLC and Brick N Brew, LLC, in which two other men – Ashley Kruse and Clayton Klausing – were also members. The companies were formed in 2019 and 2020, respectively, after the three men decided to purchase and renovate a building in downtown Napoleon,

Ohio, with the goal of opening and operating a restaurant and bar called Brick N Brew in the building, all of which they then did over a period of time, beginning in late 2019.

{¶10} The state introduced evidence at trial from Kruse and Klausing that the three owners of the businesses each contributed startup money towards the venture and, further, that they all agreed none of them would receive any money back from the business until an undetermined future date, well after Brick N Brew opened for business and had built up sufficient capital.

{¶11} Once Brick N Brew was ready to open, or shortly thereafter, Micah Behnfeldt was hired as a general manager to run the restaurant and bar. After Behnfeldt worked there for a period of time, he began noticing that the average balance in the business’s bank account always seemed much lower than it should be, based on the business’s sales and expenses. Upon Kruse and Klausing reviewing their business bank records for 2023, it was found that Topp had made numerous withdrawals from the business bank accounts, and the withdrawn funds were then deposited into Topp’s own personal bank account or used to directly pay his personal expenses, including such things as car and mortgage payments, insurance, child support, and utilities.

{¶12} After a police report was made and an investigation was conducted by Detective James Augustine of the Napoleon Police Department, it was determined that Topp had converted $13,344.48 in funds from the Property Prepers bank

account and $31,534.71 from the Brick N Brew bank account. Augustine interviewed Topp, who acknowledged withdrawing funds from the business accounts for his personal use, but claimed he was entitled to do so. However, the evidence adduced through the testimony of Kruse and Klausing at trial established that the three members of the two business entities had never voted or otherwise agreed that Topp was permitted to receive disbursements or make withdrawals from the business accounts for his personal use.

{¶13} At trial, after the prosecution rested its case, the trial court and counsel conducted a review and discussion of potential jury instructions, outside the presence of the jury. At that time, the state moved to amend the portion of the indictment in which the victims were specified. The defense noted no objection to the amendment, and the same was then granted by the trial court. The amendment served to change the “John Doe and John Doe” alleged as victims in the original indictment to the names of Clayton Klausing and Ashley Kruse, and further removed the “DBA” (“doing business as”) in the original indictment.

Once amended, the indictment alleged as follows:

BRIAN E. TOPP, on or about January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023, at the county of Henry aforesaid, did with purpose to deprive the owner, Clayton Klausing, Ashley Kruse, Brick n Brew &/or Property Prepers, of property or services, to wit: Money and Services, knowingly obtain or exert control over either the property or services beyond the scope of the express or implied consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent in violation of Ohio Revised Code §2913.02(A)(2), 2913.02(B)(2), Grand Theft, F4.

FURTHERMORE, the property or services stolen is valued at seven thousand five hundred dollars or more and less than one hundred fifty thousand dollars.

{¶14} Additionally, while the indictment charged a theft of property valued at $7500.00 or more, known as “Grand Theft” pursuant to R.C. 2913.02(B)(2), the state’s evidence at trial established that no individual misappropriation of funds made by Topp was in an amount equal to or over $7500.00. The trial court therefore determined that, because the prosecution was apparently relying on an aggregate value of $7500.00 or more, a jury instruction should be given based on R.C. 2913.61, which sets forth circumstances under which the value of property or services involved in a series of theft offenses must be or may be aggregated for purposes of determining the value-based degree of felony involved.

{¶15} Following some discussion with counsel on the R.C. 2913.61 aggregation issue, the trial court ultimately gave the following instruction to the jury as part of the general charge:

Count One. The Defendant, Brian E. Topp, is charged with Theft. Before you can find the Defendant guilty, you must find beyond a reasonable doubt that on or about January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 and in Henry County, Ohio, the Defendant, with purpose to deprive the owners Clayton Klausing, Ashley Kruse, and Brick N Brew &/or Property Prepers of money, [sic] knowingly obtain or exert control over the money beyond the scope of the expressed or implied consent of Clayton Klausing, Ashley Kruse, and Brick N Brew &/or Property Prepers or person authorized to give consent.

***

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