State v. Walker, L-07-1156 (9-12-2008)

2008 Ohio 4614
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 12, 2008
DocketNo. L-07-1156.
StatusUnpublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 2008 Ohio 4614 (State v. Walker, L-07-1156 (9-12-2008)) 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. Walker, L-07-1156 (9-12-2008), 2008 Ohio 4614 (Ohio Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

DECISION AND JUDGMENT
{¶ 1} Appellant, Allen Walker, appeals from his convictions for aggravated robbery, kidnapping and aggravated burglary. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

{¶ 2} In the early morning hours of August 28, 2006, the victim was reading in her bed when she heard some noises in her kitchen. She investigated but did not find anything out of place so she went back to bed and fell asleep. Later, she was awakened *Page 2 when someone threw a blanket over her head and tied her hands behind her back. A male told her he wanted money. He then asked her for her bank card and her personal identification number. After she told him the number, the man tied her feet and hands together and had her stand up. As she hopped along, the man guided her to the bathroom where he had her lay face down in the bathtub. He told her to remain in the bathtub and he left. When she heard the man leave, she untied herself and ran out of the house. Outside, she called the police on her cell phone. While waiting for the police and hiding under a bush, she watched a man, driving her car, pull into her driveway. The man got out of her car and disappeared around the corner of her house. From a photo array, the victim identified appellant as the perpetrator.

{¶ 3} On September 12, 2006, appellant was indicted for burglarizing the victim's home and for the robbery and kidnapping of the victim. A jury found appellant guilty on all counts on April 6, 2007. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Appellant appeals setting forth the following assignments of error:

{¶ 4} "I. The trial court erred in denying defendant's motion in limine and allowing testimony of other acts into evidence at trial.

{¶ 5} "II. The trial court's failure to find kidnapping and aggravated robbery are allied offenses of similar import was erroneous and resulted in the wrongful conviction of a crime and increased loss of liberty.

{¶ 6} "III. The trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress the photo identification of the defendant by the victim. *Page 3

{¶ 7} "IV. The prosecution did not produce sufficient evidence of serious physical harm to convict Mr. Walker of aggravated robbery and this finding was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

{¶ 8} "V. The jury's finding that Mr. Walker was guilty of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and kidnapping was against the manifest weight of the evidence and should be overturned.

{¶ 9} "VI. Defendant was denied a fair trial because of ineffective assistance of counsel.

{¶ 10} "VII. The above errors, when taken together, deprived appellant of a fair trial as guaranteed by the due process clause of the constitution."

{¶ 11} In his supplemental brief, appellant sets forth a supplemental assignment of error for review:

{¶ 12} "I. Appellant's convictions for aggravated robbery under R.C. 2911.01(A)(3) and aggravated burglary under R.C. 2911.11(A)(1) should be vacated because the indictment failed to charge the mens rea required for each of these crimes and therefore rendered the indictment defective and created a plain error that warrants reversal."

{¶ 13} In his first assignment of error, appellant contends the court erred in denying his motion in limine.

{¶ 14} A motion in limine is a request "that the court limit or exclude use of evidence which the movant believes to be improper, and is made in advance of the actual *Page 4 presentation of the evidence to the trier of fact, usually prior to trial. The motion asks the court to exclude the evidence unless and until the court is first shown that the material is relevant and proper." State v. Winston (1991), 71 Ohio App.3d 154, 158. Thus, because a trial court's decision on a motion in limine is a ruling to exclude or admit evidence, our standard of review on appeal is whether the trial court committed an abuse of discretion that amounted to prejudicial error. State v. Graham (1979), 58 Ohio St.2d 350. An abuse of discretion "connotes more than an error of law or judgment; it implies that the court's attitude is unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable."Blakemore v. Blakemore (1983), 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219.

{¶ 15} Appellant sought to exclude evidence that people in the victim's neighborhood had called 911 to report a suspicious man walking around houses and looking into windows. The calls were received on August 29, August 30 and August 31, 2006, just days after the burglary at the victim's home. One of the callers was able to give the license plate number of the car, a silver Ford Taurus that the suspicious man was driving. This information ultimately led to police using a picture of appellant in a photo array. The victim identified appellant from the photo array. Appellant contends this evidence was irrelevant because he was not charged with any crime regarding the above activity and the above activity is different from the acts he was convicted of committing at the victim's home.

{¶ 16} Generally, "[e]vidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith." *Page 5 Evid. R. 404(B). However, such evidence may "be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident." Id. Other acts forming a unique, identifiable plan of criminal activity are admissible to establish identity or any of the other enumerated purposes under Evid. R. 404(B). State v. Broom (1988), 40 Ohio St.3d 277. In order to be admissible to prove identity through a certain modus operandi, other-acts evidence must be related to and share common features with the crime in question." State v. Lowe, 69 Ohio St.3d 527, 1994-Ohio-345, paragraph one of the syllabus.

{¶ 17} The state contends that the evidence demonstrated proof of opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge and absence of mistake. First, the activity was observed in the victim's neighborhood immediately after her home was burglarized. One of the callers lived only one street away from the victim. Second, further investigation revealed that at the home of one of the callers, a back window screen had been cut. The evidence in this case shows that appellant entered the victim's home through her back window, after cutting her screen.

{¶ 18} Based on the common features of the other acts evidence and the crimes at issue, we find that the evidence was relevant for purposes of proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying appellant's motion in limine. Appellant's first assignment of error is found not well-taken. *Page 6

{¶ 19}

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Bluebook (online)
2008 Ohio 4614, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-walker-l-07-1156-9-12-2008-ohioctapp-2008.