State v. Lyons
2017 Ohio 4385
| Ohio Ct. App. | 2017Background
- Late-night fight at Club 106; Officer Lemal arrived, heard something hit gravel and saw a Smith & Wesson on the ground; crowd was being separated.
- Corey Lyons, a convicted felon subject to a weapons disability, was among the group; Lemal ordered everyone to stop but Lyons walked away and then fled when ordered to stop.
- Lemal observed Lyons reach into his coat/pants; Lyons removed a .40 Ruger and threw it near a parked vehicle; the Ruger was loaded with a round chambered.
- Lyons was indicted on: having weapons while under disability (felony), tampering with evidence (felony), carrying a concealed weapon (felony), and failure to comply with an order of a police officer (misdemeanor).
- Jury convicted on all counts; court sentenced Lyons to consecutive prison terms for the felonies and concurrent six months for the misdemeanor.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voir dire indoctrination | State: voir dire gave uncontested facts to assess bias | Lyons: prosecutor gave overly detailed facts and prejudiced jury | No plain error; voir dire statements were permissible and later borne out at trial; assignment denied |
| Batson challenge to peremptory strike | State: articulated race-neutral reasons (juror's expressions, statements about spirit, family prosecutions); similar white juror also struck | Lyons: prosecutor struck only black juror for race-based reasons | Court accepted race-neutral explanations and found no purposeful discrimination |
| Sufficiency of tampering-with-evidence conviction (Straley) | State: evidence showed ongoing investigation and Lyons discarded gun to impair evidence | Lyons: relies on Straley to argue tampering requires relation to the specific investigation | Sufficient evidence; unlike Straley, here officers were actively investigating the scene and Lyons discarded the weapon during flight to avoid charges |
| Ineffective assistance of counsel | State: counsel’s strategic choices were reasonable; no prejudice shown | Lyons: counsel failed to challenge biased juror, failed to exclude juror who knew witnesses, failed to object to other-acts testimony, failed to renew Crim.R.29 on tampering | No deficient performance or prejudice shown; strategic decisions not ineffective; Crim.R.29 point moot because tampering conviction was supported |
Key Cases Cited
- Jackson v. State, 107 Ohio St.3d 53, 836 N.E.2d 1173 (Ohio 2005) (counsel may present uncontested facts to venire to reveal bias)
- Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (U.S. 1986) (three-step framework for racial discrimination in peremptory strikes)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-prong ineffective-assistance standard)
- State v. Straley, 139 Ohio St.3d 339, 11 N.E.3d 1175 (Ohio 2014) (tampering requires the evidence tampered with be related to the ongoing or likely investigation)
- State v. Ruff, 143 Ohio St.3d 114, 34 N.E.3d 892 (Ohio 2015) (R.C. 2941.25 merger analysis focuses on defendant's conduct, animus, and import)
- State v. Rice, 69 Ohio St.2d 422, 433 N.E.2d 175 (Ohio 1982) (carrying concealed weapon and having weapons while under disability may be separate offenses)
- State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 678 N.E.2d 541 (Ohio 1997) (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)