State v. Williamson

114 N.E.3d 323, 2018 Ohio 2226
CourtCourt of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County
DecidedJune 7, 2018
DocketNo. 106480
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 114 N.E.3d 323 (State v. Williamson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Williamson, 114 N.E.3d 323, 2018 Ohio 2226 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2018).

Opinion

LARRY A. JONES, SR., J.:

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Michael Williamson ("Williamson"), appeals the trial court's denial of his postconviction application for DNA testing. We affirm.

I. Facts and Procedural Background

{¶ 2} In 2001, Williamson was convicted of 12 counts of rape in violation of R.C. 2907.02 and was sentenced to 12 consecutive life terms. This court affirmed his convictions in State v. Williamson , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 80982, 2002-Ohio-6503, 2002 WL 31667650.

{¶ 3} On November 23, 2016, Williamson filed an application for DNA testing pursuant to R.C. 2953.71 through 2953.81. On December 9, 2016 the trial court denied Williamson's motion as "untimely filed." Williamson appealed and this court reversed, finding that the trial court's denial of Williamson's DNA testing application as "untimely" constituted an insufficient order. State v. Williamson , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 105320, 2017-Ohio-4192, 2017 WL 2482846. We remanded the case for the trial court to comply with R.C. 2953.71 through 2953.81 and make a ruling on his application for DNA testing. Id. at ¶ 5.

{¶ 4} On October 12, 2017, the trial court issued an opinion and order denying Williamson's application. The trial court *326noted that Williamson was requesting testing of a "cup and flooring" related to the victim's testimony that she spit his semen on both items. The court found, however, that no physical evidence was presented at his trial that could be tested for DNA; the court stated that the only physical evidence collected and tested by the state was the victim's bedding, which tested negative for semen and blood. The court found that Williamson's application could be denied per R.C. 2953.74(C)(1). The court further found that results from the DNA testing would not be outcome determinative because the presence of another person's DNA would not have exonerated Williamson. The victim alleged that Williamson raped her over 40 times; he was convicted of 12 of those incidents, and the cup and flooring only related to one incident. Thus, DNA exoneration for the alleged evidence on the cup and flooring would not exonerate him on all counts.

{¶ 5} Williamson filed a timely pro se notice of appeal and has assigned six assignments of error for our review:

I. The dispositive opinion factual finding that "the physical cup itself and samples from the floor are unavailable for DNA testing at this point" was not made in accordance with statutory requirements and therefore fails.
II. The dispositive trial court legal conclusion that "the trial of (Neiswonger's1 or) another person's DNA (in or on the cup or immediate flooring) would have * * * not * * * completely * * * exonerated (the) appellant (with an) exclusion result," established a standard for the requirement (as to DNA application rejection) or 2953.74(B)(4) contrary to Ohio law and thus fails.
III. The dispositive opinion mixed finding of fact and conclusion of law that "the cup and floor relate to only one incident (out of the victim's allegations that the appellant raped her in forty-plus incidents) thus (even if some other person's, and not the appellant's DNA, was found in or on the cup or in the immediate flooring, that) "evidence would not exonerate Williamson for all 12 counts with an exclusion result and thus the requirements of 2953.71(C)(4) as defined by 2953.71(L) were not met" misstates the law as to 2953.74(C)(4) and thus fails.
IV. The opinion and order erroneously ignores Williamson's application made pursuant to R.C. 2953.74(B).
V. The opinion and order erroneously fails to analyze the requirements of the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions impacted in R.C. 2953.71 - 2953.81, mandating the DNA testing requested.
VI. The R.C. 2953.71 - 2953.81 statutory scheme is unconstitutional under the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment; and under the due process and equal protection clauses of the Ohio Constitution.

II. Law and Analysis

{¶ 6} Assignments of error one through five will be combined for review because they discuss the same issue: Williamson claims that the trial court erred in denying his application for DNA testing.

{¶ 7} Postconviction DNA testing for eligible inmates is addressed in R.C. 2953.71 through 2953.81. Detailed grounds for accepting or rejecting applications can be found in R.C. 2953.74. State v. Widmer , 12th Dist. Warren No. CA2012-02-008, 2013-Ohio-62, 2013 WL 142041, ¶ 114. R.C. 2953.74(A) provides that a trial court "has the discretion, on a case-by-case basis" to accept or reject an eligible inmate's *327application for DNA testing. Thus, we review the trial court's decision to deny Williamson's application for an abuse of discretion. An abuse of discretion is more than an error of law or judgment, but instead connotes that the trial court's decision was unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable. Blakemore v. Blakemore , 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219, 450 N.E.2d 1140 (1983). When applying the abuse of discretion standard, an appellate court may not merely substitute its judgment for that of the trial court. Berk v. Mathews , 53 Ohio St.3d 161, 169, 559 N.E.2d 1301 (1990).

{¶ 8} R.C. 2953.74(C) provides, in part, that the court may accept an application for DNA testing only if:

(1) the court determines pursuant to section 2953.75 of the Revised Code that biological material was collected from the crime scene or the victim of the offense for which the inmate is an eligible inmate and is requesting DNA testing and that the parent sample of that biological material against which a sample from the inmate can be compared still exists at that point in time.

R.C. 2953.75(A) requires the court to direct the prosecuting attorney to canvass any and all law enforcement authorities that might have retained the biological material to be tested to determine "whether the parent sample of that biological material still exists at that point in time."

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
114 N.E.3d 323, 2018 Ohio 2226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-williamson-ohctapp8cuyahog-2018.