State v. Deanda ( 2012 )

[Cite as State v. Deanda, 2012-Ohio-408.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT
SENECA COUNTY
STATE OF OHIO,
PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, CASE NO. 13-10-23
v.
DAVID L. DEANDA, OPINION
DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
Appeal from Seneca County Common Pleas Court
Trial Court No. 09-CR-0210
Judgment Reversed and Cause Remanded
Date of Decision: February 6, 2012
APPEARANCES:
John M. Kahler, II for Appellant
Derek W. DeVine and Rhonda L. Best for Appellee
Case No. 13-10-23
WILLAMOWSKI, J.
{¶1} Defendant-appellant David L. Deanda (“Deanda”) brings this appeal
from the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Seneca County finding him
guilty of felonious assault and sentencing him to seven years in prison. For the
reasons set forth below, the judgment is reversed.
{¶2} On September 19, 2009, Deanda was involved in a fight with David
B. Swartz (“Swartz”). During the fight, Deanda grabbed a knife and proceeded to
stab the victim multiple times in the neck and chest. Deanda was yelling that he
was going to kill Swartz. When the police and emergency medical technicians
arrived, Deanda continued to yell that he was going to kill Swartz. Swartz was
eventually life flighted to a hospital due to his injuries.
{¶3} On September 23, 2009, the Seneca County Grand Jury indicted
Deanda on one count of attempted murder, a felony of the first degree, in violation
of R.C. 2923.02 and 2903.02(A). A jury trial was held from May 17 to May 21,
2010. At the conclusion, the jury convicted Deanda of the lesser included offense
of felonious assault, a felony of the second degree. On May 21, 2010, a
sentencing hearing was held. The trial court sentenced Deanda to serve seven
years in prison. Deanda appeals from these judgments and raises the following
assignments of error.
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First Assignment of Error
The trial court erred to the prejudice of [Deanda] by permitting
[the State] to introduce various instances of inadmissible hearsay
testimony over the objection of the defense in violation of the
Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States
Constitution, and Article I, Section 10 of the Ohio Constitution.
Second Assignment of Error
The trial court erred to the prejudice of [Deanda] by denying the
proffered testimony of Joey Deanda and Vicki Deanda into
evidence.
Third Assignment of Error
[Deanda’s] conviction should be overturned because certain
statements made during the prosecution’s rebuttal argument at
closing amounted to prosecutorial misconduct.
Fourth Assignment of Error
[Deanda’s] conviction should be overturned because the trial
court’s instruction of felonious assault as a lesser included
offense of attempted murder is erroneous and thus the trial
court committed plain error.
Fifth Assignment of Error
[Deanda’s] conviction was against the manifest weight of the
evidence.
In the interest of clarity, we will address the assignments of error out of order.
{¶4} The fourth assignment of error alleges that the trial court erred by
instructing the jury that felonious assault is a lesser included offense of attempted
murder. “[A] criminal offense may be a lesser included offense of another if (1)
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the offense carries a lesser penalty than the other; (2) the greater offense cannot, as
statutorily defined, ever be committed without the lesser offense, as statutorily
defined, also being committed; and (3) some elements of the greater offense is not
required to prove the commission of the lesser offense.” State v. Barnes, 94 Ohio
St.3d 21, 2002-Ohio-68, 759 N.E.2d 1240 (citing State v. Deem (1988), 40 Ohio
St.3d 205, 533 N.E.2d 294. The Ohio Supreme Court in Barnes determined that
R.C. 2903.11(A)(2) is not a lesser included offense of R.C. 2903.02(A) and R.C.
2923.02(A). Id.{¶5} However, the Ohio Supreme Court did modify this test in State v.
Evans, 122 Ohio St.3d 381, 2009-Ohio-2974, 911 N.E.2d 889. In Evans, the
Supreme Court removed the word “ever” from the test and set up a modified test.
Id. at ¶25.
In determining whether an offense is a lesser included offense of
another, a court shall consider whether one offense carries a
greater penalty than the other, whether some element of the
greater offense is not required to prove commission of the lesser
offense, and whether the greater offense as statutorily defined
cannot be committed without the lesser offense as statutorily
defined also being committed.
Id. at paragraph 2 of the syllabus. When reviewing the offenses, the offenses must
be examined in the abstract and the specific facts of the case may not be
considered. Id. at ¶25.
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The state contends that the strict comparison of elements
required by the second part of the Deem test has produced
incongruous and illogical results that fail to hold criminal
defendants accountable for crimes in the absence of indictments
for each related offense. The state urges us to modify the second
part of the Deem test to permit courts to consider the particular
facts and circumstances of each case in determining whether one
offense is a lesser included offense of another, or to consider
whether “the offenses are so similar that the commission of one
offense will necessarily result in commission of the other,” as we
have done in our analogous test for allied offenses of similar
import. * * *
On the other hand, [the defendant] contends that adoption of the
state’s fact-based approach will impinge upon a criminal
defendant’s constitutional right to a grand jury indictment,
permitting convictions for offenses that were either considered
and rejected or never even contemplated by the grand jury. He
asserts that the state’s proposed test would create uncertainty
for prosecutors, defendants, and the courts by making it
impossible to predict, before trial, what lesser included offenses
would be at issue. In addition, [the defendant] argues that
because we have previously held that robbery is not a lesser
included offense of aggravated robbery, applying a contrary
ruling would violate his due process rights.
We have consistently held that in applying Deem to lesser
included offenses, “ ‘ “ ‘the evidence presented in a particular
case is irrelevant to the determination of whether an offense, as
statutorily defined, is necessarily included in a greater offense.’
”’” * * * Indeed, in Barnes, we rejected the state’s request that
we consider the specific facts of the case in determining whether
felonious assault with a deadly weapon was a lesser included
offense of attempted murder. * * * But we note that the facts of a
case are relevant in determining whether a court should instruct
the jury on a lesser included offense. Specifically, we have stated
that after the three parts of the Deem test are met, “[i]f the
evidence is such that a jury could reasonably find the defendant
not guilty of the charged offense, but could convict the defendant
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of the lesser included offense, then the judge should instruct the
jury on the lesser included offense.” * * * Based upon the
foregoing, we decline the state’s invitation to abandon our
precedent in this regard.
Id. at ¶11-13. Although the words need not be identical, the elements must match
in such a way that one cannot commit the greater offense without committing the
lesser offense. Id. at ¶22.
{¶6} In this case, Deanda was charged with a violation of R.C. 2903.02(A)
and R.C. 2923.02(A), attempted murder. He was convicted of felonious assault in
violation or R.C. 2903.11(A)(1). A review of the offenses in this case show that
attempted murder, as charged, was a felony of the first degree, and felonious
assault, as convicted, was a felony of the second degree. Thus, there is a greater
potential punishment for the attempted murder charge than the felonious assault
charge. Thus, the first part of the Deem test is met.
{¶7} Next we look at the statutory elements in the abstract. “No person
shall purposely cause the death of another * * *.” R.C. 2903.02(A). “No person,
purposely or knowingly, and when purpose or knowledge is sufficient culpability
for the commission of an offense, shall engage in conduct that, if successful,
would constitute or result in the offense.” R.C. 2923.02(A). “[A] person is guilty
of attempted murder when he or she ‘purposely * * * engage[s] in conduct that, if
successful, would constitute or result in’ the purposeful killing of another.”
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Barnes, 94 Ohio St.3d at 26. Deanda was found guilty of violating R.C.
2903.11(A)(1), which states that no person shall knowingly cause serious physical
harm to another. R.C. 2903.11(A)(1). In this case, the offense of attempted
murder did require the State to prove an additional element, that the serious
physical harm could result in death. Thus, the second part of the Deem test is met.
{¶8} Finally, this court must determine whether the greater offense can be
committed without committing the lesser offense as statutorily defined. Despite
the State’s argument to the contrary, it is possible to commit attempted murder
without violating R.C. 2903.11(A)(1). For example, if one were to put cyanide in
another’s food, but the intended victim does not eat it, the first party is still guilty
of attempted murder because they purposely committed the act that, if successful,
would result in the death of the victim. However, the first party would not have
violated R.C. 2903.11(A)(1) because no serious physical harm occurred.1
Following the reasoning of the Ohio Supreme Court in Barnes, this court must
find that R.C. 2903.11(A)(1) is not a lesser included offense of attempted murder.
Since Deanda was neither indicted on felonious assault, nor is it a lesser included
offense of attempted murder, it is an error affecting a substantial right and is thus
reversible error. The fourth assignment of error is sustained.
1
This court would find however that attempted felonious assault is a lesser included offense of attempted
murder because you cannot attempt to cause the death of another without attempting to cause serious
physical harm.
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{¶9} The dissent argues that given the facts of this case, the very acts which
formed the basis of the attempted murder charge were felonious assault. We
agree. The dissent then concludes that under the facts of this case, we should find
that felonious assault is a lesser included offense of attempted murder. This
conclusion is not supported by the holding in Evans, which clearly stated that the
individual facts of the case may not be considered.2 Instead, the Evans court
specifically stated that we must consider whether the greater offense cannot be
committed without committing the lesser offense. Id. at ¶26.
{¶10} In the first assignment of error, Deanda claims that the trial court
erred by allowing hearsay testimony to be presented over objection by the defense.
“’Hearsay’ is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at
the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.”
Evid.R. 801(C). Unless the statement meets one of the exceptions to the rule,
hearsay is not admissible in a trial. Evid.R. 802.
{¶11} In support of his argument, Deanda presents four statements that he
claims should have been excluded. The first is Officer Laverne Keefe’s statement
that Swartz had stated that Deanda was the person who injured him. Tr. 176-77.
The third and fourth instances of hearsay statements were found in the testimony
of Lieutenant Michelle Craig. She testified that Swartz called and said the
2
We note, as does the dissent herein, that the Supreme Court in its analysis does appear to consider the
facts. However, the Supreme Court specifically said we may not do so. We must do as they say.
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hospital was going to keep him and that Deanda was the one who caused the
injuries. Tr. 476-77. Deanda’s counsel objected on the basis of hearsay, but the
objections were overruled. No exception exists for identity. The first statement
was made after the scene was secure and Deanda was being escorted away. The
other two statements were made in a phone call to the police station made by
Swartz from the hospital. There is no indication in the record that the statements
meet any of the exceptions set forth in Evid.R. 803. Repeating the out of court
statement of the victim that the defendant was the one responsible for his injuries
and that the hospital was keeping him was meant to persuade the jury that the
defendant was guilty and is thus a hearsay statement.
{¶12} The second instance of hearsay to which Deanda objects is a
statement by Detective Shawn Vallery as to what he was told by an unidentified
forensic nurse at St. Vincent’s Medical Center concerning the condition of the
victim. The statements of an unidentified third party concerning the injuries to the
victim are hearsay. The State argues that these statements were merely offered to
show how the investigation progressed. Although this may be true as well, the
statements themselves were also offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted,
i.e. the extent of the injuries. The witness could have explained the progress of the
investigation without repeating the statements of third parties. However, since this
court has already determined that prejudicial error occurred, the issue raised in the
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first assignment of error of whether the admission of hearsay statements is
prejudicial or harmless error is moot and will not be addressed by this court.
{¶13} Having found prejudicial error in the fourth assignment of error, the
second, third, and fifth assignments of error are also moot and need not be
addressed. The judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Seneca County is
reversed and the matter is remanded for further proceedings.
Judgment Reversed and
Cause Remanded
ROGERS, J. concurs.
SHAW, P.J., DISSENTS
{¶14} The majority concludes that because it is possible in the abstract, to
conceive of a factual scenario where one might commit attempted murder without
committing felonious assault, that felonious assault cannot be a lesser included
offense of attempted murder in the case before us. The “abstract possibility
analysis” derives from the second prong of a three part test set forth in State v.
Deem, (1988), 40 Ohio St.3d 205. Specifically, the Deem test stated that before a
trial court may instruct upon a lesser included offense, the court must find that
“the greater offense cannot, as statutorily defined, ever be committed without the
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lesser offense, as statutorily defined, also being committed.” Deem at paragraph
three of the syllabus (Emphasis added).
{¶15} The majority further cites the subsequent decision of the Ohio
Supreme Court in State v. Barnes, (2002), 94 Ohio St.3d 21, which also strictly
relied upon the Deem test, in order to determine that felonious assault was not a
lesser included offense of attempted murder.
{¶16} However, in State v. Evans, (2009), 122 Ohio St.3d 381, the
Supreme Court of Ohio acknowledged the implausible results that courts were
reaching in attempting to follow the purely hypothetical and speculative analysis
that seemed to be mandated by the language of the Deem test. As a result, the
Court in Evans expressly rejected the use of abstract possibilities as the primary
tool of analysis for lesser included offenses in Ohio and modified the language of
Deem accordingly, by specifically deleting the word “ever” from the second prong
of the Deem test. See Evans, at 383. As the Court stated, this was done to ensure
that implausible scenarios advanced by the parties to suggest the remote
possibility that one offense could conceivably be committed without the other
being committed would no longer “derail a proper lesser included offense
analysis.” Id. at 387.
{¶17} Thus the “clarified” test for lesser included offenses in Ohio, as
announced by Evans, now states:
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In determining whether an offense is a lesser included offense of
another, a court shall consider whether one offense carries a
greater penalty than the other, whether some element of the
greater offense is not required to prove commission of the lesser
offense, and whether the greater offense, as statutorily defined,
cannot be committed without the lesser offense as statutorily
defined also being committed. (State v. Deem (1988), 40 Ohio
St.3d 205, clarified.)
Evans at second paragraph of the syllabus.
{¶18} The Evans court declined to further modify Deem by adopting a test
for lesser included offenses based entirely on the facts and circumstances of each
case. Evans at 386. However, it is also clear that under Evans the factual context
of a case is no longer entirely irrelevant, and may be considered, both in
conducting a more pragmatic comparison of statutory elements than permitted by
Deem, and insofar as it may be necessary to determine whether the evidence
supports an instruction on the lesser charge.
But we note that the facts of a case are relevant in determining
whether a court should instruct the jury on a lesser included
offense. Specifically, we have stated that after the three parts of
the Deem test are met, 'if the evidence is such that a jury could
reasonably find the defendant not guilty of the charged offense,
but could convict the defendant of the lesser included offense,
then the judge should instruct the jury on the lesser included
offense.' (Emphasis in original) (Citations omitted.)
Evans at 385.
{¶19} In concluding that robbery was a lesser included offense of
aggravated robbery in the case before it, the Evans court was called on to
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determine whether the conduct of “displaying, brandishing, indicating possession,
or using a deadly weapon” in the attempt or commission of a theft offense as
stated in the greater offense of aggravated robbery, [R.C. 2911.01(A)(1)], also
constituted “a threat to inflict physical harm” in the attempt or commission of a
theft offense, as defined in the lesser offense of robbery, [R.C. 2911.02(A)(2)].
{¶20} The Evans court’s rationale in reaching an affirmative answer is
instructive to the case before us:
While these elements are not identically phrased, we have
recognized: 'The test is not a word game to be performed by rote
by matching the words chosen by the legislature to define
criminal offenses. Some offenses, such as aggravated murder
and murder, lend themselves to such a simple matching test;
others do not. * * * We would also note that the elements of the
offenses are 'matched' only * * * to determine if 'some element'
of the greater offense is not found in the lesser offense. The
proper overall focus is on the nature and circumstances of the
offenses as defined, rather than on the precise words used to define
them. (Citation omitted). Thus, the test does not require
identical language to define the two offenses, but focuses upon
whether the words used in the statute defining the greater
offense will put the offender on notice that an indictment for that
offense could also result in the prosecution of the lesser included
offense.
Evans at 386. (Emphasis added.)
{¶21} Under the quoted language from Evans, set forth above, the reference
to the “circumstances of the offenses as defined” necessarily implies that at the
very least, the factual conduct described in the statutory offense is relevant to
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provide a realistic context for conducting the necessary comparisons of statutorily
defined offenses. Additionally, as the Evans court does in the aggravated
robbery/robbery comparisons conducted below, the statutory offenses are now to
be examined for possible compatibility instead of for any possible incompatibility
as in Deem.
{¶22} In Evans, the two statutory offenses at issue describe conduct in
sufficient detail such as “displaying a deadly weapon” and a “threat to inflict
physical harm” to enable the court to make the comparisons necessary to
determine whether one type conduct also included the other in that case Thus,
upon first concluding on its own rationale that “the threat of physical harm” in the
robbery statute need not be explicit, but could also be an implied threat, the Evans
court was then able to compare the conduct described in the aggravated robbery
offense with the conduct described in the robbery statute and conclude that “[o]ne
cannot display, brandish, indicate possession of, or use a deadly weapon in the
context of committing a theft offense without conveying an implied threat to inflict
physical harm. It is the very act of displaying, brandishing, indicating possession,
or using the weapon that constitutes the threat to inflict harm because it
intimidates the victim into complying with the command to relinquish property
without consent.” (Emphasis added.) Evans at 386.
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{¶23} However, unlike Evans, in the case before us, the operative language
of the attempted murder statute is only the allegation that the defendant did
“engage in conduct that, if successful, would constitute or result in the offense” [of
murder]. (Emphasis added.) The element of “conduct” as used in the attempt
statute [R.C. 2923.02(A)] is unique in that it carries no further statutory definition
or description of its own but instead, clearly requires the incorporation of whatever
elements are present in the offense attempted, in this case the offense of murder.
{¶24} One could argue that as the only available reference for any
comparison or analysis, the undefined word “conduct” as used in the attempt
statute not only invokes, but necessarily requires reference to the factual
allegations of conduct in any given case in order to conduct a proper lesser
included offense analysis for an attempt charge under Evans. In this case, the
multiple stabbings and serious physical harm alleged would be more than
sufficient to satisfy any such lesser included offense analysis. However, because
the same result can be reached in the case before us by conducting the same
analysis of statutory language as conducted in Evans, without reference to the
specific facts and circumstances in evidence, it is unnecessary to further address or
rely upon this interpretation at this time.
{¶25} In any event, under the Evans test, the language of the attempted
murder charge not only permits, but necessarily requires, closer examination of the
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“statutory circumstances” of the attempted murder offense and the felonious
assault offense charged in this case, and then if necessary, reference to the specific
factual allegations and/or conduct in evidence in order to make a proper lesser
included offense analysis. See Evans at 385. Thus, just as the Evans court had to
determine whether the conduct of “displaying, brandishing, indicating possession,
or using a deadly weapon” in an aggravated robbery offense also constituted a
“threat to inflict physical harm” for purposes of a robbery offense, the only
relevant question for this court to determine is whether the conduct of “knowingly
causing serious physical harm” to the extent that if successful it would constitute
purposely causing the death of another also constitutes “knowingly causing serious
physical harm”.
{¶26} Applying the statutory circumstances analysis of Evans to the case
before us then, it is clear that the defendant could not “engage in conduct”
(knowingly causing serious physical harm) that if successful (serious enough to
produce death) would constitute purposefully causing the death of the victim
[attempted murder as defined in R.C.2923.02(A)/R.C. 2903.02(A)], without also
engaging in conduct that would constitute knowingly causing serious physical
harm to that victim [felonious assault as defined in R.C. 2903.11(A)(1)]. Since
this is also the scenario that is actually reflected in the evidence of this case, the
instruction on the lesser included offense of felonious assault was warranted on
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both statutory and evidentiary grounds, and in any event, did not constitute plain
error.
{¶27} Based on the foregoing, I respectfully dissent from the decision of
the majority to reverse this conviction. The trial court was correct to instruct the
jury on the lesser included offense of felonious assault in this case. The fourth
assignment of error should be overruled and this court should address the merits of
the remaining assignments of error.
/jlr
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