State v. Veal

2012 Ohio 3555
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided August 8, 2012·No. 26005·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

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

STATE OF OHIO C.A. No. 26005 Appellee

v. APPEAL FROM JUDGMENT ENTERED IN THE

RICKY M. VEAL COURT OF COMMON PLEAS COUNTY OF SUMMIT, OHIO

Appellant CASE No. CR 10 11 3142

DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY Dated: August 8, 2012

MOORE, Presiding Judge.

{¶1} Appellant, Ricky Veal, appeals from the judgment of the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. This Court affirms.

I.

{¶2} On December 2, 2010, the Summit County Grand Jury indicted Mr. Veal on one charge of rape in violation of R.C. 2907.02(A)(2) with a sexually violent predator specification and a repeat violent offender specification, one charge of kidnapping in violation of R.C. 2905.01(A)(4) with a sexually violent predator specification, a sexual motivation specification, and a repeat violent offender specification, and robbery in violation of R.C. 2911.02(A)(2) with a repeat violent offender specification. At his arraignment, Mr. Veal pled not guilty, and the case proceeded to a jury trial on the charges absent the specifications. The jury found Mr. Veal guilty on all charges. Mr. Veal waived his right to jury trial on the attendant specifications, and the trial court found him guilty of all specifications. On June 23, 2011, the trial court issued an entry

sentencing Mr. Veal to a total term of incarceration of 48 years to life. Mr. Veal timely filed a notice of appeal and raises four assignments of error for our review. We have re-ordered the assignments of error to facilitate our discussion.

II.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR IV

[MR. VEAL]’S CONVICTION FOR ROBBERY, KIDNAPPING, AND RAPE IS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

{¶3} In his fourth assignment of error, Mr. Veal argues that his convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence. We do not agree.

{¶4} When a defendant asserts that his conviction is against the manifest weight of the evidence,

an appellate court must review the entire record, weigh the evidence and all reasonable inferences, consider the credibility of witnesses and determine whether, in resolving conflicts in the evidence, the trier of fact clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice that the conviction must be reversed and a new trial ordered.

State v. Otten, 33 Ohio App.3d 339, 340 (9th Dist.1986). In making this determination, this Court is mindful that “[e]valuating evidence and assessing credibility are primarily for the trier of fact.” State v. Shue, 97 Ohio App.3d 459, 466 (9th Dist.1994), citing Ostendorf-Morris Co. v. Slyman, 6 Ohio App.3d 46, 47 (8th Dist.1982) and Crull v. Maple Park Body Shop, 36 Ohio App.3d 153, 154 (12th Dist.1987).

{¶5} Here, Mr. Veal was convicted of rape in violation R.C. 2907.02(A)(2), which provides that “[n]o person shall engage in sexual conduct with another when the offender purposely compels the other person to submit by force or threat of force.” Additionally, Mr. Veal was convicted of kidnapping in violation of R.C. 2905.01(A)(4), which provides that “[n]o person, by force, threat or deception * * * shall remove another from the place where the other

person is found or restrain the liberty of the other person * * * [t]o engage in sexual activity * * * with the victim against the victim’s will[.]” Lastly, Mr. Veal was convicted of robbery in violation of R.C. 2911.02(A)(2), which provides that “[n]o person, in attempting or committing a theft offense or in fleeing immediately after the attempt or offense, shall * * * inflict, attempt to inflict, or threaten to inflict physical harm on another[.]” Mr. Veal makes no argument as to the weight of the evidence regarding the specifications attendant to these offenses, and we therefore will limit our review accordingly.

{¶6} As part of its case-in-chief, the State presented the testimony of the victim, witnesses to the victim’s behavior after the attack, employees of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification (“BCI”), medical personnel, and police officers. The victim, Nichole, testified that, on July 16, 2010, she was six months pregnant, and the water service to her home had been shut off. She called her sister who worked at a nearby gas station. The sisters made plans to meet after Nichole’s sister’s shift ended at midnight. They planned to meet half-way between the gas station and Nichole’s home to then walk to her sister’s house so that Nichole could take a shower. While Nichole was walking to meet her sister, she encountered a dark-blue, four-door car, and the driver began flirting with her. After Nichole ignored his advances, the driver grabbed her, forced her in his car and drove onto an expressway. He exited the expressway and drove to a grassy clearing on Juneau Avenue, where he stopped. He told Nichole that he wanted to have sex with her, and she said no and told him she was pregnant. He then punched her in the face and grabbed her hair, pulling her out of the car. He ripped off her clothing, and she began screaming. He then placed an object by her side and told her that he was going to kill her if she did not be quiet. Nichole’s attacker forced her to masturbate him, and he then vaginally raped her. After the attack, as Nichole was looking for her clothes in the clearing, her attacker drove

off. Nichole ran to the nearby house of Stephen Parker to seek help. Parker told her that he did not have a phone, but gave her some clothes. She then ran to the house of Charlene Thornton. Ms. Thornton’s daughter, Charnele Bell, provided Nichole with some shoes and called 9-1-1.

{¶7} Mr. Parker testified that he heard screaming in the early morning hours of July 17, and, after looking outside and seeing nothing, he returned indoors to watch television. He then heard another scream, and he went back outside, looked down the street, and saw a car drive away quickly. He returned inside, and looking out from inside his home, he saw a naked woman walk past his house. She then came to his house and told him that she had been raped, and Mr. Parker could see injuries to her head. He went inside and got her some clothes, and she left.

{¶8} Ms. Bell and Ms. Thornton testified that, in the early morning hours of July 17, a woman was knocking on Ms. Thornton’s windows and door asking for help. After looking outside, they saw a naked woman in the street trying to flag down cars. The woman then obtained clothes at a neighbor’s home, but returned to Ms. Thornton’s house after another car drove off without helping her. Ms. Bell gave her a pair of shoes and called 9-1-1.

{¶9} Officer Jason Belacic of the City of Akron Police Department testified that he received a report of a rape in progress on July 17, and he and his partner were dispatched to Juneau Avenue. When they arrived, they saw a woman standing in the street sobbing. Her face was red and swollen, and she appeared to be “in severe distress.” She told the officers that she was walking home from a drive-thru, and a man pulled out in front of her and asked her to get in his car, and, after she refused, he forced her inside, drove to a wooded area just south of Stoner Street on Juneau Avenue, and raped her. When checking the area, the officers photographed visible tire tracks in the grass clearing on Juneau Avenue. The officers could not locate

Nichole’s clothes in the clearing, but they did locate her sandals and sunglasses. Nichole also informed the officers that she had her purse with her, but the man drove off with it.

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