State v. Brown, Unpublished Decision (9-23-2002)
State v. Brown, Unpublished Decision (9-23-2002)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 3} After appellant moved to have the robbery charge tried separately from the remaining charges, a jury trial on the robbery charge commenced on January 10, 2002. The following evidence was adduced at trial.
{¶ 4} On September 28, 2001, Clair Stephens was working as a cashier clerk at a Citgo Station on Cleveland Avenue in Canton, Ohio. At approximately 2:33 p.m., a black male came into the station and came around the side of the counter where Stephens was working. The man then opened the door leading to Stephens' cashier station and handed Stephens a note. The following testimony was adduced when Stephens was asked if he remembered what the note said:
{¶ 5} "A. Not exactly. I know something along the lines of he wanted the money now and like I said, I read the note. When he showed it to me I thought he was mute and could not talk. I told him just wait a second. There was people, at least one other lady in the store five or six feet away.
{¶ 6} "And all of a sudden it just hit me that the note said give me the money. So I looked again and that's what it said.
{¶ 7} "Q. Did he say anything to you?
{¶ 8} "A. Said hurry up and he wanted the money and he told me to hurry up and I wasn't fast enough or something, I don't know, but he told me to hurry it up, that I didn't want to get hurt. And I said okay." Transcript at 96.
{¶ 9} Stephens did not see a gun or other type of weapon on the man nor did the man, through his actions, lead Stephens to believe that he had a weapon. Stephens, however, testified that he felt threatened by the man since he didn't "know what people are going to do" and since he did not want to find out if the man, in fact, had a weapon. Transcript at 97. Stephens further testified that he thought that "it was very possible that he could harm me if I didn't give him the money." Transcript at 107. Stephens then gave the man, who was a couple of feet away from him, the money that was in the cash register, which totaled approximately $300.00.
{¶ 10} After the man exited the station, Stephens saw him get into a black Oldsmobile. Stephens was able to copy the car's license plate number. Once the police arrived on the scene, they took a surveillance tape into custody and, after obtaining the car's license plate number from Stephens, identified appellant as the owner of the Oldsmobile. In addition, Stephens immediately picked appellant's picture out of a photo array prepared by Sergeant Jack Angelo a few days after the incident.
{¶ 11} When appellant was stopped in his car a few days later and was arrested, he had over $300.00 in his shoe.
{¶ 12} At the conclusion of the evidence and the end of deliberations, the jury, on January 10, 2002, found appellant guilty of robbery as charged in the indictment. Thereafter, on January 14, 2002, appellant entered a plea of guilty to the remaining charges in the indictment. As memorialized in an entry filed on January 17, 2002, appellant was sentenced to a definite four year prison sentence for robbery. The trial court, in its entry, ordered that such sentence be served consecutively to appellant's sentence in a 1998 case. In addition, the trial court ordered that appellant serve six months in prison for each of the remaining forgery and receiving stolen property counts. Finally, the trial court ordered the same to run concurrently with appellant's four year prison term for robbery.
{¶ 13} It is from the trial court's January 17, 2002, entry that appellant prosecutes his appeal, raising the following assignments of error:
{¶ 14} "I. APPELLANT WAS IMPROPERLY CONVICTED OF ROBBERY AS A FINDING OF GUILTY TO THE CHARGE OF ROBBERY WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.
{¶ 15} "II. THE COURT ERRED BY PERMITTING THE JURY TO CONSIDER THE CHARGE OF ROBBERY AND SHOULD HAVE LIMITED THE JURY'S CONSIDERATION TO THE CRIME OF THEFT."
{¶ 17} On review for manifest weight, a reviewing court is to examine the entire record, weigh the evidence and all reasonable inferences, consider the credibility of the witnesses and determine "whether in resolving conflicts in the evidence, the jury clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice that the conviction must be reversed . . . The discretionary power to grant a new trial should be exercised only in the exceptional case in which the evidence weighs heavily against the conviction." State v. Thompkins
{¶ 18} In the case sub judice, appellant was convicted of robbery in violation of R.C.
{¶ 19} "No person, in attempting or committing a theft offense or in fleeing immediately after the attempt or offense, shall do any of the following:
{¶ 20} "(3) Use or threaten the immediate use of force against another."
{¶ 21} Pursuant to R.C.
2901.01 (A), force is defined as "any violence, compulsion, or constraint physically exerted by any means or against a person or thing." The "use or threat of immediate use of force against another" requirement is satisfied "if the fear of the alleged victim was of such a nature as in reason and common experience is likely to induce a person to part with property against his will and temporarily suspend his power to exercise his will by virtue of the influence of the terror impressed." State v. Davis (1983),6 Ohio St.3d 91 ,94 ,451 N.E.2d 772 . The Ohio Supreme Court, in Davis, stressed that this was an objective, not a subjective, standard.
{¶ 22} As is stated above, appellant asserts that his conviction for robbery is against the manifest weight of the evidence since the element of force was not proven. Appellant specifically points out that it is undisputed that appellant did not use a gun or other weapon, that Stephens testified that appellant's actions did not leave him to believe that appellant had a weapon, and that appellant did not yell at or speak to Stephens. However, as is stated above, at the trial in this matter, Clair Stephens, the Citgo clerk, testified that appellant, after giving him the note, "told me to hurry up, that I didn't want to get hurt." Transcript at 96. Stephens also testified that he felt threatened since he "didn't know what people are going to do" and that he thought that it was "very possible that he could harm me if I didn't give him the money." Transcript at 97, 107. Stephens further testified that he would not have given appellant the money if he had not felt threatened and that he did not want to find out if appellant had a gun or other weapon on his person. At trial, the jury had the opportunity to view the surveillance videotape of the robbery and thus, could observe both appellant's and Stephens' demeanors during the same.
{¶ 23} Based on the foregoing, we find that the jury, which was in the best position to assess Stephens' credibility, did not lose its way in finding that appellant made a threat of immediate force in carrying out the theft of the Citgo station.
{¶ 24} Appellant's first assignment of error is, therefore, overruled.
{¶ 26} In State v. Jenks (1981),
{¶ 27} After viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, we find that, based upon the facts set forth in detail in the statement of facts above, any rationale trier of fact could have found that appellant threatened the use of force in committing a theft offense. R.C.
{¶ 28} We concur with appellee that based on such evidence, any rationale trier of fact could have found that Stephens' fear "was of such a nature as in reason and common experience is likely to induce a person to part with property against his will and temporarily suspend his power to exercise his will . . ." See Davis, supra.
{¶ 29} Appellant's second assignment of error is, therefore, overruled.
{¶ 30} Accordingly, the judgment of the Stark County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
By Edwards, J., Gwin, P.J. and Wise, J. concurs.
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