State v. MooreState v. Moore
Lead Opinion
Defendant, Antonio Lee (Leroy) Moore, appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas finding him guilty of one count of voluntary manslaughter in violation of
The Franklin County Grand Jury indicted defendant on January 16, 1990 for one count of aggravated murder (
The defendant filed a pretrial motion on March 16, 1990 to compel the disclosure of certain state witnesses’ “statements” pursuant to
A jury trial was commenced on March 28, 1990 and, on April 2, 1990, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty of aggravated murder, but guilty of the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter with a firearm specification. The trial court ordered the preparation of a presentence investigation and report, and continued the matter for sentencing.
On June 6, 1990, defendant was sentenced to an indefinite term of incarceration of ten to twenty-five years for the aggravated first degree felony of voluntary manslaughter, plus three years’ actual incarceration for the firearm use. In its June 11, 1990 sentencing entry, the trial court indicated that it had expressly considered the
As background, defendant on October 1, 1989, had been “holding” $1,500 cash for a friend, Robert Vincent, apparently as drug sale proceeds. While in his rented motor vehicle, defendant was allegedly approached by the victim, Carla Mathews, who sought a ride home. Defendant consented, and the victim and another male individual, posing as her “brother,” both got in defendant’s car with the other man seating himself behind defendant. Subsequently, defendant claims these passengers robbed him of $1,000 of Vincent’s money at gunpoint, and then exited the vehicle.
After this alleged robbery, defendant sought out his cousin, Nathaniel Moore (a minor), and they drove back to the robbery area trying to find the two perpetrators and retrieve the money. Nathaniel Moore obtained a loaded revolver before their search began.
Approximately one-half hour after the alleged robbery, or roughly 1:30 a.m. on October 2, 1989, near Granville Street in Columbus, defendant spotted Carla Mathews on the street. Both defendant and Nathaniel Moore exited *339 their automobile and approached Mathews. When she failed or refused to answer defendant’s questions regarding the alleged robbery incident, Nathaniel removed the handgun from his jacket pocket and handed it to defendant in his right hand. Defendant admitted to then being “mad.”
The revolver discharged at relatively close range to the victim’s head (greater than six inches and less than two feet). The fatal bullet entered the left side of Mathews’s head near the lower eyebrow, and travelled horizontally to the right side, front to back. She later died on October 2, 1989 in the hospital.
The trial evidence was in conflict on certain facts. Defendant denied striking the victim with his hand or fist prior to the weapon discharging, while two eyewitnesses, if believed, claimed he did. Defendant claimed the victim reached for the revolver and a “tussle” ensued resulting in the weapon’s discharge. State’s witness, Keith Kendrick, testified that defendant first threatened to “shoot” the victim, and then did so without any struggle. Nathaniel Moore first stated there was no struggle, and later claimed that there was. Further, defendant testified that the revolver was already cocked when Nathaniel handed it to him, a fact which Nathanial denied. Apparently, the weapon required manual “cocking” before it could be fired.
From the conviction and sentence, defendant filed a timely notice of appeal on June 22, 1990, and sets forth seven assignments of error, as follows:
“1. The trial court erred in denying Defendant-Appellant’s pretrial Motion for Disclosure of Witness Statements pursuant toR.C. 149.43.
“2. The trial court erred in permitting the prosecuting attorney to attack the credibility of State’s witness, Nathaniel Moore, by means of a prior inconsistent statement, and erred in denying Defendant-Appellant’s Motion for Mistrial where the record failed to demonstrate surprise and affirmative damage as required underEvid.R. 607 .
“3. The trial court erred in permitting the prosecuting attorney to place before the jury, through extended questioning of the state’s witness, Nathaniel Moore, and through extrinsic evidence in the form of a tape recording, the entirety of the witness’s prior statements to the police.
“4. The trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the defense of accident, as set forth in 4 O.J.I. Sec. 411.01, where accident had been raised as a defense and was supported by evidence.
“5. The trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter,R.C. 2903.04(B) , death caused by the commission of the misdemeanor of negligent assault,R.C. 2903.14 , *340 where the testimony of the State’s witnesses, under a reasonable view of the evidence, would have supported a conviction of the lesser included offense.
“6. Defendant-Appellant’s conviction for voluntary manslaughter is not supported by sufficient evidence.
“7. The trial court abused its discretion in sentencing Defendant-Appellant to a maximum term of imprisonment without properly considering the mitigating factors set forth inR.C. 2929.12. ”
In his first assignment of error, defendant asserts that he had a mandatory right, pursuant to
Relying on
State ex rel. Natl. Broadcasting Co. v. Cleveland
(1988),
Initially, we observe that the trial court was correct in denying discovery under
Defendant’s pretrial request was limited only to the “statements” of witnesses or “summaries” thereof. In the common parlance of the criminal law and at least within the context of
An initial question arises whether any witness “statements,” as above defined, even exist, either in the context of
The trial court was correct in denying discovery under
It is clear that unless excepted from disclosure, law enforcement investigatory records must be disclosed under
The trial court was additionally correct in prohibiting disclosure under
Defendant’s first assignment of error is not well taken.
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Defendant’s second and third assignments of error, relating to the testimony of state witness, Nathaniel Moore, are interrelated and will be addressed together. In the second assignment of error, defendant contends that, with an inadequate showing of surprise and affirmative damage per
Evidentiary rulings made at trial are customarily committed to the discretion of the trial court absent a showing that a substantial right of a party has been affected. (Staff Notes,
It is within the sound discretion of a trial court to permit the state to ask leading questions of its own witnesses
(Seley v. G.D. Searle & Co.
[1981],
Sub judice, Nathaniel Moore’s trial testimony on direct examination by the state differed substantially from the recorded interview he gave to Detective Cash taken shortly after the shooting of Carla Mathews. Said testimony apparently also differed from the version the prosecutor claims Nathaniel related to him the day prior to commencement of trial. During trial, this witness testified he furnished the weapon to defendant, and that defendant and the victim engaged in some form of physical scuffle just prior to the gun’s discharge. In his prior interviews, Nathaniel had related that defendant always maintained control of the revolver, and that no struggle had occurred prior to the shooting. The prosecutor clearly had anticipated Nathaniel’s trial testimony would be consistent with his prior interview testimony. His eyewitness versions of the events at issue were demonstrably inconsistent.
The existence of surprise is a factual issue left to the trial court’s discretion
(State v. Diehl
[1981],
To establish the additional
At the point in the trial at which Nathaniel was called as a state witness, the prosecution was attempting to prove the indictment, i.e., aggravated murder. State eyewitness Keith Kendrick had just previously described to the jury what would be commonly considered an “execution style” shooting, and one committed with prior calculation and design. Witness Moore’s subsequent testimony injected facts which, if believed by the jury, implied an accident or conduct done while defendant was in a fit of rage. The potential effect of this version of the shooting would tend to damage the state’s case as to premeditation and therefore aggravated murder. Witness Moore’s trial testimony could hardly be described as neutral. The state did not seek to impeach him until after the jury had heard his new, damaging testimony. Affirmative damage was also established.
We find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s rulings as to the use of leading questions and the application of
Defendant further argues in the third assignment of error that the state’s extended questioning of Nathaniel Moore and use of his prior taped statement in its entirety were improper impeachment procedures going beyond mere points of surprise. During the trial, defendant’s counsel, in part at least, objected on the basis of
The trial record reflects that defense counsel, on cross-examination of Nathaniel Moore, questioned him at some length about being coerced by the
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police during their initial taped interview of him. Later, the state requested permission to play the entire tape recording of that interview to the jury for its consideration of the issue of intimidation, all of which related to the credibility and impeachment of that witness. Over defendant’s objection, the tape was played to the jury. In overruling this objection, the trial court observed that defense counsel had “made an issue out of it” (the alleged coercion), and indicated a limited purpose instruction would be given the jury. Such instruction was later provided
twice.
The jury is presumed to follow those instructions
(State v. Ferguson
[1983],
Defendant’s second and third assignments of error are not well taken.
Defendant’s fourth and fifth assignments of error, each relating to aspects of the trial court’s jury instructions, are also interrelated, and will likewise be treated together. The fourth assignment of error claims error in the trial court’s refusal to charge the jury on the defense of accident. The fifth assignment of error alleges prejudicial error in the trial court’s refusal to instruct on the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter,
A homicide is not excusable on the basis of accident unless it appears from the evidence that at the time of the killing the offender was acting in a lawful manner and without negligence
(In re Jackson
[1975],
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The trial court did instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter predicated upon the misdemeanor of aggravated menacing (
Negligent homicide is not a lesser included offense of murder or aggravated murder
(State v. Koss
[1990],
Accordingly, defendant’s fourth and fifth assignments of error are not well taken.
In the sixth assignment of error, defendant attacks the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction for voluntary manslaughter. The test for determining the sufficiency of the evidence is whether reasonable minds could reach different conclusions on the issue of whether or not an accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
(State v. Black
[1978],
Our review of the record, in light of the above principles, suggests that the evidence does support the jury’s verdict of voluntary manslaughter pursuant to
Defendant’s sixth assignment of error is not well taken.
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In the seventh assignment of error, defendant claims the trial court abused its discretion in imposing sentence upon him. The record reflects that the trial court ordered and considered a presentence investigation report, expressly considered the sentencing factors under
Within the statutory limits of
Absent an abuse of discretion (defined supra), a sentence which is imposed within the statutory framework or limits will not be interfered with upon appeal
(Toledo v. Reasonover
[1965],
Defendant’s assignments of error are overruled, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
Concurrence Opinion
concurring separately.
While I concur with the judgment of the majority in overruling defendant’s first assignment of error, I find it necessary to further clarify the opinion in light of the Ohio Supreme Court’s recent decision in
State ex rel. Clark v. Toledo
(1990),
In
Clark,
the court held that
“The narrow issue in this case is whetherR.C. 149.43 is available to a criminal defendant in a post-conviction proceeding, and it has not been necessary to address the possible application ofR.C. 149.43 to original trial proceedings.
“We share the concern that widespread use ofR.C. 149.43 by criminal defendants might place an intolerable burden on the administration of criminal justice. This court cannot, however, eliminate this eventuality by ignoring the substantive right conferred upon all persons, including Clark, by R.C. 149.-43(B). Only the legislature can do so, as hereinabove indicated.”
Thus, this opinion should not be interpreted as approving the trial court’s conclusion that material which is not discoverable under
Although the court below did not specifically determine that the information sought to be discovered fell under an exception to the
“UnderR.C. 149.43 and NBC, supra [State ex rel. National Broadcasting Co. v. Cleveland (1988),38 Ohio St.3d 79 ,526 N.E.2d 786 ], the trial court must scrutinize the records in question. If the trial court determines that the records in question are specific investigatory work product under R.C. 149.-43(A)(2)(c), or otherwise excepted from disclosure underR.C. 149.43(A)(2) , or that the records in question were specifically compiled in reasonable anticipation of a criminal action or proceeding underR.C. 149.43(A)(4) , then neither the media nor the criminal defendant would be entitled to the records. The trial court would redact that which was excluded.” Sanford v. Kelly (1989),44 Ohio App.3d 30 , 34,541 N.E.2d 124 , 127.
Because
Clark
clearly indicates that its holding is intended to apply only where post-conviction relief is sought, and because the trial court appeared to
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have conducted a review sufficient to satisfy the mandate of
Clark,
I would concur in the view of the majority that the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s pre-trial