State v. Riggins
2019 Ohio 3254
Ohio Ct. App.2019Background
- In June 2016 Devarieh Riggins and accomplices drove around seeking victims; James Tamplin was shot near a recreation center and later died.
- Surveillance linked a silver van to Jabina Riggins; subsequent traffic stop of a different car found a .22 handgun by Riggins’s seat that ballistics matched to casings at the homicide scene.
- Coron Smith testified that Riggins ran up to Tamplin and fired; Tamplin told his brother he had been robbed and shot by people in a silver van.
- Riggins made jail calls after arrest; a detective listened and took notes but recordings sought from the jail were not preserved and ultimately unavailable at trial.
- Jury convicted Riggins of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, and related offenses; court sentenced him to an aggregate term of 50 years to life.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admissibility of detective’s testimony from destroyed jail-call recordings | State: detective’s notes admissible; no bad faith in loss; recordings not shown to be materially exculpatory | Riggins: destroyed recordings potentially useful or exculpatory; admission of notes violated due process | Court: no bad faith shown; admission not an abuse of discretion; overruled assignment of error |
| Admissibility of victim’s statement to brother (dying declaration) | State: Tamplin’s statement admissible as dying declaration | Riggins: statement not shown to be made under sense of impending death; hearsay | Court: trial court erred to admit as dying declaration but error harmless because statement qualified as excited utterance; overruled assignment of error |
| Sufficiency and weight of the evidence (aggravated robbery / aggravated murder) | State: testimony, surveillance, ballistics, and circumstantial evidence show attempted robbery and purposeful killing during robbery | Riggins: no evidence of theft/attempted theft; witness credibility issues; alternative explanations | Court: evidence sufficient and not against manifest weight; convictions affirmed |
| Allied-offenses / merger of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery | State: intent to kill separate from intent to rob when defendant continued to shoot; offenses not allied | Riggins: counts should merge as allied offenses of similar import | Court: offenses have separate animus (specific intent to kill distinct from robbery intent); no merger |
Key Cases Cited
- Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (U.S. 1963) (prosecutor’s suppression of materially exculpatory evidence violates due process)
- Arizona v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51 (U.S. 1988) (when destroyed evidence is only potentially useful, defendant must show bad faith to establish due-process violation)
- United States v. Bagley, 473 U.S. 667 (U.S. 1985) (definition of materiality for undisclosed evidence)
- United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97 (U.S. 1976) (materiality standard for undisclosed evidence not met by mere possibility of helpfulness)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
- Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (U.S. 1967) (harmless-error standard for constitutional violations)
- State v. Johnston, 39 Ohio St.3d 48 (Ohio 1988) (adopted Bagley materiality standard in Ohio context)
- State v. Jackson, 57 Ohio St.3d 29 (Ohio 1991) (Brady materiality requires more than possibility of helpfulness)
- State v. Benson, 152 Ohio App.3d 495 (Ohio Ct. App. 2003) (bad faith found where officer was dishonest about existence/preservation of tape)
- State v. Geeslin, 116 Ohio St.3d 252 (Ohio 2007) (negligent destruction of evidence does not equal bad faith)