State v. Wilkerson, Unpublished Decision (10-8-2002)

CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 8, 2002
DocketNo. 01AP-1127 (REGULAR CALENDAR)
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Wilkerson, Unpublished Decision (10-8-2002) (State v. Wilkerson, Unpublished Decision (10-8-2002)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law.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State v. Wilkerson, Unpublished Decision (10-8-2002), (Ohio Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Tinnissha L. Wilkerson, appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas finding her guilty of one count of aggravated burglary, two counts of aggravated robbery, and four counts of robbery, all with firearm specifications, arising out of the June 3, 2001 burglary and robbery of Sofia Butcher and Tina Prout at a Motel 6 in Columbus.

{¶ 2} According to state's evidence, West Virginia residents Ruth Lemaster, Sofia Butcher, and Tina Prout, arrived in Columbus on June 2, 2001 and stayed at the Motel 6 on Dublin-Granville Road. After midnight that evening, the three women went to a nearby Meijer store on Cleveland Avenue to pick up some needed items. The women testified that two black men, one approximately six feet tall with braided hair and the other shorter with Afro-style hair, followed the women throughout the store while they shopped, talked to the women for several minutes, and stood directly behind them in the checkout lane. The men followed the women back to the Motel 6 and, as the women entered the motel room, forced their way into the women's room. Despite the women's request that they leave, the men stayed for approximately ten minutes, leaving only when Lemaster's boyfriend arrived. The lighting in the motel room was bright, and at trial all three women positively identified co-defendant Raashawn Reynolds as one of the men who followed them in the Meijer store and forced his way into their motel room.

{¶ 3} The next evening at approximately eleven o'clock, Sofia Butcher answered a knock at the motel door, believing it to be Lemaster returning from a date with her boyfriend. Tina Prout had just stepped out of the shower. When Butcher opened the door, a black man wearing a covering on his head and a bandanna over his mouth and nose entered the room. He pointed a gun at Butcher's head, grabbed her by the throat, threw her over a bed, and demanded money or the women would be killed. Butcher testified at trial that during the incident she recognized the perpetrator as Reynolds from the previous night, based on his eyes and voice. Butcher and Prout positively identified Reynolds at trial as the perpetrator who grabbed Butcher.

{¶ 4} Butcher and Prout testified that a black female carrying a gun followed Reynolds into the motel room, grabbed Prout and "slung" her around the room, demanding the women's money. The women described the female perpetrator as having braided hair, and wearing black clothing, gloves, a hat, and a mask. Prout testified that as the female perpetrator straddled her on top of a bed, Prout looked directly up and paid attention to her face. The female perpetrator repeatedly struck Prout's head with a telephone. At trial, both Prout and Butcher positively identified defendant as the female perpetrator, with Prout testifying that on a scale of one to ten her certainty level was a "ten."

{¶ 5} The women testified that a third perpetrator also came into their motel room with defendant and Reynolds, but they were unable to positively identify the third person, other than to describe him as a black male with frizzy hair who was wearing a blue bandana. The three perpetrators left after taking the victims' money, and the women immediately called the motel office to report the incident.

{¶ 6} An off-duty police officer working at the motel at the time of the robbery responded to the call and obtained a description of the perpetrators. Around the time of the robbery, the officer had observed a blue four-door full-size vehicle with at least three black occupants drive away from the motel; the officer had noted the vehicle was not registered at the motel. Based on the victims' descriptions and his observation of the vehicle and its occupants, the officer called in a report of two black males and one black female possibly driving a blue vehicle. In approximately 30 minutes, the police apprehended four possible suspects who were in a blue four-door Bonneville registered in defendant's name. In the area in which the suspects were apprehended, the police also found masks, bandannas, hats, guns, and gloves matching the victims' description of the perpetrators' items; the victims positively identified the retrieved items at trial as having been worn or carried by the perpetrators during the robbery.

{¶ 7} Approximately one hour after the robbery, the three women attended a "show-up" of the four suspects at the scene where the suspects were apprehended. The suspects were shown one at a time to the women, who stood approximately two car lengths' away and observed the suspects under street lights and with a police car light focused on the suspects. The two victims immediately and positively identified defendant and Reynolds as having participated in the robbery that night. All three women also identified Reynolds as one of the persons who followed them at Meijer and entered their motel room the previous night. The off-duty police officer who worked at the Motel 6 that night also attended the show-up and testified at trial that the blue Bonneville looked like the same car he observed at the motel around the time of the robbery. Defendant and Reynolds were arrested and charged, and a joint trial was set for the two defendants.

{¶ 8} On July 18, 2001, defense counsel filed a motion for relief from prejudicial joinder to sever defendant's trial from that of her co-defendant Reynolds. Asserting that severance was warranted under Bruton v. United States (1968), 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, defendant contended that "[s]hould a non-testifying Co-Defendant statement be used by the State of Ohio in its case in chief, said statement being indicative of Defendant Wilkerson's guilt and/or inconsistent with her theory of innocence, Defendant Wilkerson would be prejudiced in that her Counsel would not be able to test the non-testifying Co-Defendant's statement through cross-examination." (Defendant's memorandum in support of motion for relief from prejudicial joinder.)

{¶ 9} In response to defendant's severance motion, the prosecution filed a memorandum contra, with attached summaries of the statements defendant and Reynolds gave to the police following their arrest. According to the summary of defendant's statement, defendant admitted taking part in the robbery of the victims at the Motel 6, and she directly implicated Reynolds and another individual in the robbery. The summary of Reynolds' statement stated as follows:

{¶ 10} "He denied taking part in the robbery. He stated that he met his sister (Wilkerson) and Smith at the laundrymat around 8:00 P.M. Wilkerson and Smith left stating that they were going to pick up a friend and get some more money so they could get some more weed. Reynolds went home, made some phone calls looking for some weed, then took a nap. Wilkerson called him after 11:00 P.M. stating that she knew where to get some weed. She then came over with Smith and the three started to drive over to Karl Road to get the weed. Terry called them and wanted them to pick him up at Reynolds house so they turned around, picked Terry up, and drove back to Karl Road. The police spotted them before they could get the weed. He jumped in the bushes when Smith ran. He denied being in the victim's room the night before."

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Simmons v. United States
390 U.S. 377 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Bruton v. United States
391 U.S. 123 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Schneble v. Florida
405 U.S. 427 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Neil v. Biggers
409 U.S. 188 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Smith v. Phillips
455 U.S. 209 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Strickland v. Washington
466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
United States v. Lane
474 U.S. 438 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Richardson v. Marsh
481 U.S. 200 (Supreme Court, 1987)
United States v. Melvin Telfaire
469 F.2d 552 (D.C. Circuit, 1972)
United States v. Lotsch
102 F.2d 35 (Second Circuit, 1939)
State v. Lundy
535 N.E.2d 664 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1987)
State v. Barnett
588 N.E.2d 887 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1990)
State v. Butler
646 N.E.2d 856 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1994)
State v. Laird
583 N.E.2d 323 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1989)
State v. Fox
12 N.E.2d 413 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1938)
State v. Thomas
400 N.E.2d 401 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1980)
State v. Moritz
407 N.E.2d 1268 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1980)
Ohio v. Madison
415 N.E.2d 272 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Wilkerson, Unpublished Decision (10-8-2002), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-wilkerson-unpublished-decision-10-8-2002-ohioctapp-2002.