State v. Walker
103 N.E.3d 325
| Ohio Ct. App. | 2017Background
- Damon Walker, indicted on two counts of gross sexual imposition, was interviewed by police at the Hamilton County Justice Center and confessed; he later pleaded no contest and was sentenced to five years and classified as a Tier III sex offender.
- Walker moved to suppress his custodial statement on the ground he lacked capacity to knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive Miranda rights; two court-appointed forensic psychologists (Drs. Dreyer and Hellmann) testified he was incompetent to waive Miranda based on objective testing.
- Detective Iris Kelly read the Miranda form, Walker initially said he did not understand, and Kelly then paraphrased rights in simple terms (omitting some elements in the paraphrase); Walker said he understood, signed a waiver, and spoke for under two hours.
- The trial court heard the audio, rejected the experts’ conclusions, denied the suppression motion, accepted Walker’s no-contest plea, and imposed sentence and sex-offender classification.
- On appeal, the court affirmed denial of the suppression motion (finding competent, credible evidence supported a valid waiver), reversed the Tier III classification (state conceded Walker should be Tier II), and rejected ineffective-assistance claims.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (State) | Defendant's Argument (Walker) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Walker validly waived Miranda rights | Waiver was knowing, intelligent, voluntary under totality; detectives used simple language, interview short, Walker had prior justice-system experience; trial court could reject experts | Walker lacked capacity to understand Miranda; expert testing (MCRI, IQ, achievement) showed severe deficits and tendency to acquiesce, so waiver involuntary/uninformed | Court: Denied suppression; trial court permissibly rejected experts and found competent, credible evidence of valid waiver |
| Proper sex-offender tier classification | N/A (state conceded error) | Trial court erred classifying Walker as Tier III; prior juvenile classification/control relevant | Appellate court: Reversed Tier III classification; remanded to classify Walker as Tier II |
| Ineffective assistance of counsel for preservation failures | Trial counsel adequately presented suppression issue and record supported appellate review | Counsel deficient for not preserving adequacy-of-warning argument | Court: Overruled; record sufficient and issues addressed, so no ineffective-assistance relief |
| Whether issue of adequacy of Miranda explanation was preserved | Issue not raised below; thus waived on appeal | (Argued in dissent) Explanation was incomplete and should have led to suppression | Court: Waived; appellate review declined (would fail plain-error test if considered) |
Key Cases Cited
- Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (Miranda warnings and waiver must be voluntary, knowing, and intelligent)
- Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402 (competency-to-stand-trial standard)
- Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412 (waiver requires full awareness of nature of right and consequences)
- State v. Burnside, 100 Ohio St.3d 152 (standard of appellate review for suppression rulings)
- State v. White, 118 Ohio St.3d 12 (trial court may not arbitrarily reject expert opinion; factors for doing so)
- State v. Lather, 110 Ohio St.3d 270 (inference of valid Miranda waiver from totality of circumstances)
- State v. Barker, 149 Ohio St.3d 1 (state’s burden to prove waiver by preponderance)