State v. St. John, Unpublished Decision (11-20-2006)
State v. St. John, Unpublished Decision (11-20-2006)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} On September 26, 2004, appellant and his friends went to the home of Ronald Schultheiss in Hamilton, Ohio at 1:30 a.m. When Schultheiss answered the door, appellant told him that two guys had jumped over the fence and into his back yard. Appellant and his friends offered to help, but Schultheiss declined. Schultheiss left the front door unlocked, walked through his house, and exited the house through the back door with his dog. Schultheiss went into his back yard, and found that nobody was there. When Schultheiss returned to his living room, appellant and three other men were in the room. Appellant and another man were holding wooden sticks, and another was holding a 40-ounce glass beer bottle. The man with the bottle hit Schultheiss over the head with it, and appellant and another man began hitting appellant with the sticks. Schultheiss fought back, and the attackers eventually retreated. Schultheiss sustained significant injuries to his head, neck, shoulder, arm, one of his fingers, and one of his toes.
{¶ 3} Hamilton Police Detective Mark Poppe interviewed appellant during the course of his investigation, and appellant provided a written statement. Appellant was arrested and charged with aggravated burglary in violation of R.C.
{¶ 4} Assignment of Error No. 1:
{¶ 5} "THE JURY FINDING OF GUILTY WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE."
{¶ 6} To determine whether a conviction is against the manifest weight of the evidence, an appellate court, reviewing the entire record, weighs the evidence and all reasonable inferences, considers the credibility of witnesses, and determines whether the trier of fact clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice that the conviction must be reversed and a new trial ordered. State v.Thompkins,
{¶ 7} Appellant argues that the evidence does not credibly support his conviction, and that Schultheiss, the state's main witness, lacked credibility. In support of this argument, appellant points to inconsistencies in Schultheiss' testimony, and evidence of Schultheiss' criminal history.
{¶ 8} While there are some minor inconsistencies in Schultheiss' testimony, we have held that "an appellate court must bear in mind the trier of fact's superior, firsthand perspective in judging the demeanor and credibility of the witnesses. * * * An appellate court is ill suited to assess witness credibility, as the demeanor and attitude of witnesses do not translate well into the written record." (Citations omitted.)In re D.S.,
{¶ 9} However, the majority of the vicitm's testimony is consistent and quite detailed. Moreover, other evidence in the record supports the jury's finding, including appellant's own written statement that he provided Det. Poppe, which implicates him in the crime. Appellant's statement consisted of the following:
{¶ 10} "One night * * * last year I was on a back porch on Greenwood having a little bit of a get together with some friends and we went walking around[.] * * * We then was [sic] walking and they started to talk about breaking into a house to get some money. We went to the house on Miami Street. The guys walked up and I knocked on the door and a guy answered the door and got punched in the face. I didn't hit him. I went in to get money and I saw a lady and turned around and went the other way. I left. She had a phone in one hand and a knife in the other hand. Then I turned around, tapped a guy on the shoulder, and ran out the door. I was in the house for about 1 or 2 minutes. * * *"
{¶ 11} After reviewing the record, including the evidence described above, we find that the jury did not clearly lose its way in finding appellant guilty of aggravated burglary. This is not an exceptional case where the evidence weighs heavily against the conviction.
{¶ 12} Appellant raises other arguments under his first assignment of error, but they are related to the sufficiency of the evidence required to convict appellant. We remind appellant that sufficiency of the evidence and manifest weight of the evidence are legally distinct issues. See Thompkins,
{¶ 13} Assignment of Error No. 2:
{¶ 14} "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN IMPOSING A PRISON TERM THAT EXCEEDED THE SHORTEST PRISON TERM AUTHORIZED FOR THE OFFENSE."
{¶ 15} Appellant argues the trial court erred by making findings that violate the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in Statev. Foster,
{¶ 16} In Foster, the Court held that portions of Ohio's statutory sentencing scheme were unconstitutional. Id. at ¶ 1, 3, and 5 of the syllabus. Among the statues found unconstitutional were R.C.
{¶ 17} According to the record, the trial court found that pursuant to R.C.
{¶ 18} Because the trial court utilized R.C.
{¶ 19} Judgment reversed as to sentencing only.
Walsh, P.J., and Young, J., concur.
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