State v. Stone, Unpublished Decision (12-10-1999)
State v. Stone, Unpublished Decision (12-10-1999)
Opinion of the Court
On the night of March 14, 1998, appellant and his wife, Rhonda Stone, went out drinking with friends. At a local drinking establishment, appellant began to argue with a bar patron named Bob Klein because appellant believed that his wife was having an extra marital affair with Klein. After appellant and Klein stopped arguing, appellant and his wife went home together, and appellant continued to accuse his wife of having an affair. Appellant's wife testified that she went to a girlfriend's house for a few hours and, when she returned, she had to wake appellant to let her into the house. Appellant continued the accusations and became violent. His wife testified that he grabbed her, threw her on the couch, slammed her head against it, and punched her in the mouth. While she was lying on the floor, appellant went to the bedroom and returned with a 12-gauge shotgun. Appellant loaded the shotgun and fired it into the ceiling. He then instructed his wife to lie face down on the floor, pointed the gun at her, and told her that he was going to kill her. Mrs. Stone convinced appellant to put the gun down and then ran to a neighbor's house to call 9-1-1.
On July 8, 1998, appellant was indicted by the Ashtabula County Grand Jury on three counts: (1) felonious assault, in violation of R.C.
"[1.] The trial court erred to the prejudice of appellant when it sentenced him to three year terms of actual incarceration on the jury's verdict that appellant had `a firearm on or about his person or under his control' while committing felonious assault and domestic violence.
"[2.] The appellant was denied the effective assistance of counsel in violation of the
Sixth andFourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and ArticleI , Section10 of the Ohio Constitution."[3.] The trial court erred to the prejudice of appellant when it sentenced him to a three year term of actual incarceration on Count Two of the indictment.
"[4.] The trial court erred to the prejudice of appellant when it instructed the jury as follows: `the act of pointing a deadly weapon at another coupled with a threat, which indicates an intention to use such weapon, is sufficient to convict a defendant of felonious assault.'
"[5.] The trial court erred to the prejudice of appellant when it entered convictions and sentenced appellant on two allied offenses of similar import."
In his first assignment of error, appellant alleges that the trial court erred by sentencing him to serve a three year term of actual incarceration for the firearm specifications on counts one and two. We do not need to consider whether the jury's verdict was sufficient to convict appellant of the firearm specification on count two of the indictment because the trial court did not sentence appellant for this specification. Appellant contends that because the jury's verdict tracks the language of R.C. 2941.14.1 and not the language of R.C. 2941.14.5, the offense for which appellant was charged in the indictment, the trial court could only sentence appellant for a violation of R.C. 2941.14.1.
R.C.
Appellant acknowledges that he was charged with the R.C. 2941.14.5 specification in the indictment and that the jury was properly instructed on that specification. He relies on State v.English (1985),
"when a jury returns a verdict of guilty of burglary rather than aggravated burglary because it was given the wrong verdict form, a trial court may not amend the verdict to a finding of guilty of aggravated burglary." Id. at 131.
In English, nothing in the record indicated that the jury meant to find English guilty of aggravated burglary rather than burglary; therefore, the trial court could not impose a sentence for aggravated burglary without resubmitting the issue to the jury.
The trial court specifically instructed the jury that before it could find the defendant guilty of felonious assault, it had to find beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant knowingly caused or attempted to cause physical harm to Rhonda Stone by means of a deadly weapon. The jury was further instructed that the act of pointing a deadly weapon at another coupled with a threat, which indicates an intention to use such weapon, is sufficient to convict a defendant of the offense of felonious assault.
This case is similar to State v. Hawkins (1997),
In the instant case, the jury was specifically instructed that the "act of pointing a deadly weapon at another coupled with a threat, which indicates an intention to use such weapon, is sufficient to convict a defendant of the offense of felonious assault." The jury returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of felonious assault. The jury also found appellant guilty of having a firearm on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense of felonious assault. These two jury findings indicate that the jury believed that appellant committed felonious assault by means of a firearm and that appellant pointed a gun at his wife and threatened her with it. Pointing a gun at an individual and threatening her with it is the equivalent of displaying, brandishing, or using a firearm during the commission of the offense; therefore, the jury's guilty verdict on the charge of felonious assault demonstrates that the jury believed that appellant was guilty of the firearm specification set forth in R.C. 2941.14.5. The trial court did not err by sentencing appellant to a three-year term of actual incarceration for the firearm specification on count one. Appellant's first assignment of error has no merit.
In his fifth assignment of error, appellant alleges that the trial court erred when it entered convictions and sentenced him on both felonious assault and domestic violence. Appellant contends that felonious assault and domestic violence are allied offenses of similar import because the same conduct gave rise to both charges.
R.C.
"(A) Where the same conduct by defendant can be construed to constitute two or more allied offenses of similar import, the indictment or information may contain counts for all such offenses, but the defendant may be convicted of only one.
"(B) Where the defendant's conduct constitutes two or more offenses of dissimilar import, or where his conduct results in two or more offenses of the same or similar kind committed separately or with a separate animus as to each, the indictment or information may contain counts for all such offenses, and the defendant may be convicted of all them."
In State v. Rance (1999),
"[U]nder an R.C.
2941.25 (A) analysis the statutorily defined elements of offenses that are claimed to be of similar import are compared in the abstract. * * * Courts should assess, by aligning the elements of each crime in the abstract, whether the statutory elements of the crimes `correspond to such a degree that the commission of one crime will result in the commission of the other.' [Emphasis in original.] [Citations omitted.]" Id. at 638.
If the elements of the crimes so correspond, the crimes are allied offenses of similar import. If they do not, the offenses are of dissimilar import and the court's inquiry ends — the multiple convictions are permitted. Rance, supra, at 636.
In the instant case, appellant was indicted for a violation of R.C.
Because each offense requires proof of an element that the other does not, they are not allied offenses of similar import. These offenses are of dissimilar import based on an abstract comparison of the statutory elements; therefore, the trial court did not err by entering conviction for both felonious assault and domestic violence. Appellant's fifth assignment of error has no merit.
In his second assignment of error, appellant alleges that he was denied effective assistance of counsel in violation of the
In order to establish a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel, appellant must demonstrate that his counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that the deficient performance prejudiced his defense. Strickland v.Washington (1984),
"To show that a defendant has been prejudiced by counsel's deficient performance, the defendant must prove that there exists a reasonable probability that, were it not for counsel's errors, the result of the trial would have been different." Id. at paragraph three of the syllabus.
As discussed above, appellant was not sentenced for two allied offenses of similar import; therefore, his counsel did not err by failing to object to the trial court sentencing appellant for both felonious assault and domestic violence. Nor can we agree with appellant's contention that he was denied effective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel did not object to the error in the jury's verdict form. Because the jury's verdict was sufficient to convict appellant of the firearm specification on count one, his counsel did not err by failing to object to the jury verdict. Appellant was not denied effective assistance of counsel. Appellant's second assignment of error has no merit.
In his third assignment of error, appellant alleges that the trial court erred by sentencing him to a three-year term of actual incarceration on count two of the indictment. He contends that the State of Ohio did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had a firearm on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense of domestic violence. Although the jury found appellant guilty of a firearm specification on count two of the indictment, the trial court sentenced him to serve only one three-year term of actual incarceration on count one, felonious assault. Because the trial court did not sentence appellant to serve an additional three-year term of actual incarceration for the firearm specification on count two, appellant's assignment of error has no merit.
In his fourth assignment of error, appellant alleges that the trial court erred when it instructed the jury that the "act of pointing a deadly weapon at another coupled with a threat, which indicates an intention to use such weapon, is sufficient to convict a defendant of the offense of felonious assault." Appellant contends that although the jury instruction contained a correct statement of the law, the instruction should not have been given because the bill of particulars did not include the specific fact that appellant pointed a gun at his wife.
Appellant failed to object to the jury instruction before the jury retired to consider its verdict; therefore, absent plain error, appellant's failure to object is a waiver of the issue on appeal. State v. Underwood (1983),
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
FORD, P.J., CACIOPPO, J., Ret., Ninth Appellate District, sitting by assignment, concur.
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