State v. HarrisState v. Harris
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Mason Angilo Harris, Jr., appeals from the trial court's denial of his post-verdict motion for judgment of acquittal. In these consolidated appeals, he claims that following a jury trial, the jury returned inconsistent verdicts on two offenses of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol ("OVI") pursuant to
{¶ 2} Officer Thomas Shreve, a Montgomery, Ohio police officer, observed a motor vehicle operated by Harris in the left-turn-only lane at the interchange of Ronald Reagan Highway and Interstate 71 northbound. Instead of turning left, however, Harris' vehicle proceeded straight through the interchange and turned onto the southbound Interstate 71 ramp. Officer Shreve stopped the vehicle.
{¶ 3} Officer Shreve approached the vehicle and detected the odor of alcohol coming from inside the vehicle. Harris told the officer that his driver's license was suspended and that he and his passenger had just left a local tavern where Harris had consumed two beers. Officer Shreve had Harris step from the vehicle. He smelled alcohol on Harris' person and observed that his eyes were bloodshot. When the officer asked Harris to submit to a field sobriety test, Harris declined. Harris explained, "I've been there before. You can see it on my jacket that I've been there on the DUI's [sic] and all that. I understand how it goes." Officer Shreve then placed Harris under arrest for operating his vehicle under the influence of alcohol. At the police station, Harris also refused to submit to a breathalyzer test of his blood alcohol level.
{¶ 4} Officer Shreve issued a uniform traffic ticket charging Harris with four offenses: driving under a suspended license, disobeying a traffic control device, and two OVI charges. Because Harris had operated a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, had had a prior OVI conviction in 2015, and had refused to submit to a chemical test of his blood alcohol level, he was charged, in the case numbered C-15TRC-31149A, with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, in violation of
{¶ 5} Harris entered pleas of not guilty to the two OVI offenses and the cases proceeded to a jury trial in Hamilton County Municipal Court. At the beginning of the trial, the state offered a certified copy of Harris' prior OVI conviction and Harris did not contest its use. Officer Shreve testified about the traffic stop and Harris' refusal to submit to the breathalyzer test. Without objection, the trial court instructed the jury that:
The defendant is charged with two separate and distinct offenses. You must consider each offense and the evidence applicable to each offense separately and you must state your verdict as to each * * * offense uninfluenced by your verdict as to each of the other offenses. The defendant may be found guilty or not guilty of any one or all two of the offenses charged.
{¶ 6} When the jury retired to consider its verdicts it was given the certified copy of Harris' prior OVI conviction.
{¶ 7} During its deliberations, the jury panel informed the court that they were unsure if they were required to consider one of the charges only if they had first found Harris guilty of the other charge. The trial court told the jury, "Well, there are two separate offenses, and I would just tell you to look at the jury instructions and it's-consider the offenses separately."
{¶ 8} The jury continued its deliberations and found Harris not guilty of
{¶ 9} Harris immediately made an oral
{¶ 10} Within the 14-day time period provided, Harris filed a motion for a new trial pursuant to
II. Inconsistent Verdicts
{¶ 11} In his first assignment of error, Harris contends that the trial court erred in denying his
a.
{¶ 12} A
{¶ 13}
If a jury returns a verdict of guilty or is discharged without having returned a verdict, a motion for judgment of acquittal may be made or renewed within fourteen days after the jury is discharged or within such further time as the court may fix during the fourteen day period. If a verdict of guilty is returned, the court may on such motion set aside the verdict and enter judgment of acquittal. * * * It shall not be a prerequisite to the making of such motion that a similar motion has been made prior to the submission of the case to the jury.
{¶ 14} Thus a
{¶ 15} We note as an initial matter that Harris urges this court to review this assignment of error under a plain-error standard as if he had forfeited his challenge to the inconsistent verdicts.
See
State v. Rogers
,
{¶ 16} The standard for reviewing a post-verdict motion for judgment of acquittal made pursuant to
b. Inconsistent responses to different counts
{¶ 17} Harris maintains that because the jury acquitted him of driving under the influence of alcohol under the
{¶ 18} There are four types of OVI offenses described in
{¶ 19} A conviction under
{¶ 20} It is well settled that seeming inconsistency between verdicts on two different charges is not a basis for reversal.
See
State v. Everett
, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-140275,
{¶ 21} These criminal proceedings against Harris were initiated not by indictment but by the filing of uniform traffic tickets by Officer Shreve. Each charge was the subject of a separate traffic citation. But the two operating-under-the-influence charges were tried together to the same jury much as the separate counts of an indictment would be. This is not a meaningful difference for the purposes of our analysis.
E.g.,
State v. Large
, 5th Dist. Stark No. 2006CA00359,
{¶ 22} Applying
Lovejoy
, the Fifth Appellate District has twice held that there were no reversible inconsistencies in jury verdicts that found defendants not guilty under
{¶ 23} A jury's verdicts need not deliver rationally consistent results in order for the verdicts to be upheld.
See
State v. Adams
,
{¶ 24} Since reasonable minds could differ as to whether each material element of the crime charged has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the trial court properly denied Harris'
III. Verdict-Form and Jury-Instruction Errors
{¶ 25} Harris next claims, still under his first assignment of error directed
{¶ 26}
{¶ 27} The errors advanced by Harris questioning the jury instructions or verdict form challenge trial errors allegedly committed by the trial court after the state had rested its case. The errors do not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence adduced by the state. Thus a
{¶ 28} Ordinarily if a trial court has given a prejudicial jury instruction or verdict form, the appropriate remedy is the granting of a new trial.
E.g.,
State v. Duncan
,
{¶ 29} Harris has not demonstrated how the jury instructions or verdict form affected the sufficiency of the state's evidence. Since the alleged errors had no impact on the sufficiency of the state's evidence, we overrule the remainder of Harris' first assignment of error.
See
Rogers
,
IV. Harris' Prior OVI Conviction
{¶ 30} In his second assignment of error, Harris again argues that the trial court erred in denying his
{¶ 31} This argument is properly directed at the sufficiency of the state's proof at trial and is thus cognizable under
{¶ 32} If a defendant sets forth specific grounds in his motion for judgment of acquittal, he forfeits review of all grounds not specified.
See
State v. Cayson
, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 72712,
{¶ 33} Because Harris set forth a specific ground as the basis of his
{¶ 34} Harris argues that while the state moved a certified copy of a judgment entry from Clermont County, dated February 13, 2015, convicting "Mason Angilo Harris, Jr." of an OVI offense into evidence as an exhibit, it nonetheless failed to present evidence sufficient to identify the person named in that entry as Harris-the offender in this case.
See
{¶ 35} But Harris' argument is disingenuous at best in light of his in-court stipulation to the prior conviction and his other actions at trial. The method of proving a prior conviction set forth in
{¶ 36} Here, immediately before the opening statements and outside the presence of the jury, Harris' defense counsel, the assistant prosecuting attorney, and the trial court discussed the admission into evidence of Harris' prior OVI conviction as reflected by the Clermont County judgment entry.
THE COURT: Are there any stipulations about that prior or are we good: how is this going to work?
ASSISTANT PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: We're going to enter the records.
THE COURT: Okay. Is there going to be a stipulation as to that? I'm just asking.
DEFENSE COUNSEL: I would love to. I think [the assistant prosecuting attorney] wants to-she actually wants to put it in the record.
THE COURT: Oh, okay. I'm just checking.
ASSISTANT PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: My understanding is there won't be an objection to the record.
THE COURT: I'm just checking.
{¶ 37} Harris and his counsel remained silent and did not challenge the stipulation. The jury was then brought into the courtroom and the trial began with opening statements. Agreements, waivers, and stipulations made by a defendant, or by his counsel in his presence, in open court are binding and enforceable.
See
State v. Post
,
{¶ 38} Moreover, Harris' other actions in the trial court confirm that he understood that he had stipulated to the prior OVI conviction. We note that the uniform traffic ticket that Officer Shreve executed to begin this prosecution named the offender as "Mason Angilo Harris, Jr." The state had notified the prospective jurors, at voir dire, that "you will hear evidence that the defendant was convicted of an OVI on February 13th, 2015." Harris did not contest this statement.
{¶ 39} Moments after the stipulation discussion, the state informed the jury, in its opening statement, that "[i]n this case you will hear evidence that the defendant * * * had a prior OVI conviction on February 13th of 2015." Harris did not object, seek a curative instruction, or move for a mistrial. Harris' defense counsel then informed the jury, in his opening statement, that "Mr. Harris has had a DUI in the past."
{¶ 40} Based upon the foregoing exchanges, we hold that Harris had entered into a stipulation as to the authenticity and admissibility of the certified copy of the February 13, 2015 Clermont County judgment entry as proof of his prior OVI conviction.
See
Waheed
, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-150254,
{¶ 41} The second assignment of error is overruled.
V. Harris Abandons Other Appeals
{¶ 42} Harris has sought appellate review of two additional judgments entered against him in the trial court, for driving with a suspended license, and for disobeying a traffic control device, as charged in the cases numbered C-15TRC-31149C and C-15TRC-31149D. But Harris has failed to raise any assignments of error challenging those judgments. Therefore we must dismiss those appeals.
{¶ 43} On direct appeal, this court is limited to determining the merits of any appeal "on the assignments of error set forth in the briefs."
VI. Conclusion
{¶ 44} Accordingly, having overruled both of Harris' assignments of error, we affirm the trial court's judgment in the appeal numbered C-160279. Because Harris has abandoned his other appeals, we
Judgment accordingly.
Myers and Deters, JJ., concur.
Harris has not assigned the trial court's denial of his