State v. Compston ( 2024 )

[Cite as State v. Compston, 2024-Ohio-2192.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
CLARK COUNTY
STATE OF OHIO :
:
Appellee : C.A. No. 2023-CA-47
:
v. : Trial Court Case Nos. 22-CR-0788; 22-
: CR-0832; 22-CR-0890
NATHANIEL COMPSTON :
: (Criminal Appeal from Common Pleas
Appellant : Court)
:
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OPINION
Rendered on June 7, 2024
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TRAVIS L. KANE, Attorney for Appellant
ROBERT C. LOGSDON, Attorney for Appellee
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WELBAUM, J.
{¶ 1} Defendant-Appellant, Nathaniel Compston, appeals from judgments in three
criminal cases that were consolidated and tried together. The jury found Compston guilty
on three felony counts of having violated a protection order. The trial court then
sentenced Compston to 12 months in prison on each count, to be served consecutively,
for a total of 36 months in prison.
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{¶ 2} According to Compston, the verdicts were against the manifest weight of the
evidence. However, Compston’s argument addressed sufficiency of the evidence rather
than manifest weight. Nonetheless, and for the reasons stated below, the verdicts were
based on sufficient evidence and were not against the manifest weight of the evidence.
Accordingly, the judgments of the trial court will be affirmed.
I. Facts and Course of Proceedings
{¶ 3} As noted, three criminal cases were filed against Compston. The
indictments all alleged that Compston had violated a protection order, having previously
been convicted of prior violations of such an order. The charges, therefore, were fifth-
degree felonies. The alleged violations occurred on October 6, 2022, October 13, 2022,
and October 24, 2022. After Compston pled not guilty, the court set various trial dates
for each case (but ultimately consolidated the cases). Compston’s appointed counsel
filed a motion for funds to retain an expert witness in the area of cell phone forensics and
examination, and on March 21, 2023, the court granted $2,500 for the expert.
{¶ 4} Subsequently, Compston’s counsel filed a motion to withdraw, citing a
breakdown in communication. The court then appointed new counsel on May 1, 2023,
and on June 28, 2023, Compston moved to consolidate the three cases. The court
granted the motion on August 17, 2023. Ultimately, a one-day jury trial on all three cases
was held on August 23, 2023. During trial, the State presented testimony from the
following witnesses: Deputy Anthony Reynolds of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office;
Sergeant Denise Jones of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office; and L.B., the victim.
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Compston testified on his own behalf.
{¶ 5} According to the evidence, L.B. had known Compston since she was around
16 years old. They began a relationship when they were younger, broke up, and then
later came back together, at which time they dated for about four years, beginning in 2017
and ending in 2021. Transcript of Proceedings (“Tr.”), 102 and 115-116. After their
relationship ended in 2021, L.B. found it necessary to obtain a domestic violence civil
protection order (“DVCPO”). An ex parte order was issued in June 2021, and the
DVCPO was then issued on August 17, 2021, after a full hearing at which Compston
failed to appear. The order was effective until June 23, 2026. Id. at 73-74 and 103;
State’s Ex. 1, p. 2-3.
{¶ 6} Under the terms of the order, which included L.B. and her children, Compston
was not to have any contact with the protected persons, including by “landline, cordless,
cellular or digital telephone; text; instant messaging; fax; email; voice mail; delivery
service; social networking; media; blogging; writings; electronic communications; or
communications by any other means directly or through another person.” Ex. 1 at p. 4.
{¶ 7} L.B. testified that Compston had never abided by the terms of the 2021
DVCPO. On September 22, 2022, Compston sent L.B. a picture of himself using a
phone number ending with 7553. Tr. at 110-111. While L.B. and Compston were
together, Compston used an “app” called “TextNow,” which lets users send text
messages without using cellphone service. Compston showed L.B. how to use the app
because they did not have cellphone service. Id. at 107-108.
{¶ 8} The 7553 number was not the only number Compston used. He used
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multiple numbers to contact L.B, including a number ending in 4878. If L.B. received a
call from a number she did not recognize, she would call back. If Compston answered,
L.B. would hang up. If Compston did not answer, the app would say that the number
was a TextNow subscriber and the call would go to voicemail. L.B. knew Compston was
the caller because he was the only person she communicated with who used TextNow.
However, when Compston found out that L.B. had blocked a number, he would get a new
one. That is how TextNow works, and an individual can obtain a new number right away.
When individuals sign up for TextNow, they provide an email address, and the app can
generate a phone number that essentially cannot be traced. TextNow is not like a
cellphone for which the police can obtain records. After getting a new number, Compston
would then call L.B. again. Id. at 76-77, 105-106, 108, and 117-121; and Ex. 4.
{¶ 9} On September 23, 2022 (the day after Compston sent the photo), L.B. texted
the 7553 number and asked Compston to quit doing “shit” in her Facebook. L.B. asked
Compston why he kept trying to hurt her, and his response was “I’m not with someone.
You are. I want to see you. Can I? I miss you.” Compston never denied he was the
person L.B. was talking with in that message. Tr. at 109-111 and State’s Ex. 6.
{¶ 10} On October 6, 2022, Deputy Reynolds was working as a police officer for
the Enon Police Department; he later became employed at the Clark County Sheriff’s
Department in November 2022. Tr. at 71-72. On October 6, Reynolds stopped by a
gas station to get gas before his shift. During that time, Reynolds encountered L.B (who
worked there) and asked how her day was going. At that point, L.B. told Reynolds about
the protection order, stated she was not sure how to get Compston to stop contacting her,
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and said she had repeatedly asked Compston to stop, but he would not. L.B. showed
Reynolds text messages she had received that day from Compston while she was in Clark
County. The messages were from a phone number ending in 4878. L.B. then emailed
Reynolds screenshots of the texts for review. Id. at 72-73, 75-76, 77-78, and 104-106;
and State’s Ex. 4.
{¶ 11} In these texts, L.B. asked who the messages were from, and the sender
replied, “It’s nate this is my new phone." Tr. at 108 and Ex. 4. In the messages, there
was a reference to a challenge. According to L.B., Compston had always told her that
she would be nothing without him, would not be successful, and would not live without
him. He had also challenged her during an argument to try and survive without him. In
these text messages, L.B. was responding to that “challenge.” Tr. at 106-107.
{¶ 12} After receiving L.B.’s information, Deputy Reynolds filed the first count of
violation of a protection order. He then followed up with L.B. on October 13, 2022, to
see if any new information had come through. At that time, L.B. said she had received
further communications from Compston that day, while she was in Clark County. The
messages were from the 7553 number that had been used in September 2022. L.B. told
Reynolds that she had received messages earlier in the thread of the 7553 number; she
then provided Reynolds with screenshots of the September 22 and 23, 2022 texts
(regarding the picture and the discussion about Facebook). Tr. at 77-8, and 109; and
State’s Ex. 5 and Ex. 6.
{¶ 13} After comparing Compston’s photo to his most recent driver’s license and
verifying with L.B. that the 7553 phone number was tied to Compston, Deputy Reynolds
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filed another criminal charge of violation of a protection order. Tr. at 81-82. In
considering the charges, Reynolds also determined that Compston had prior convictions
for violating protection orders. Id. at 82-83 and State’s Exs. 2 and 3 (certified copies of
the prior convictions).
{¶ 14} Sergeant Jones testified that, since 2017, she had worked in the Intimate
Partner Crime Unit, which investigates matters like domestic violence, stalking, protection
orders, and some sexual assaults between intimate partners. According to Jones,
TextNow is a means of obtaining transient phone numbers not necessarily provided
through a cellphone provider, and they can be set up using email addresses, which are
also transient. A phone number can be obtained and vanish, and a new number can be
gotten within five minutes. Furthermore, TextNow only retains information for a limited
amount of time. As a result, information about users can be very difficult to obtain if not
done in a swift manner, i.e., within 48 to 72 hours. Jones also indicated that people in
protection order and stalking situations commonly use apps like TextNow, especially
when a victim is blocking numbers, because the victim will not recognize the number. Tr.
at 89-93.
{¶ 15} In November 2022, L.B. reported to Sergeant Jones that she had received
additional communications from Compston on October 24, 2022. These texts were also
from the 7553 number, and L.B. received them while she was in Clark County. There
were several text messages, but L.B. did not respond.
{¶ 16} Previously, in the September 23, 2022 text messages, Compston had
referred to the fact that L.B. was with another person. Id. at 93-94, 112-113, 115, and
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117; see also Ex. 6 and State’s Ex. 7. The October 24 texts stated: “I miss you so much.
I wanna kill him I seriously just might. I will I’m not even kidding Ur supposed to be
mine.” Tr. at 113 and Ex. 7. L.B. also believed these messages were from Compston
because the sender said, “I’m Yellow Springs u don’t even remember.” Id. L.B. testified
that while she and Compston were together, they talked about the future. One of their
dreams was that they would live in a small house in a small town, and they both liked
Yellow Springs. Tr. at 113.
{¶ 17} After speaking with L.B., receiving a screenshot of the October 24 texts,
verifying the existence of the DVCPO, and checking Compston’s prior criminal history,
which indicated two prior convictions for the same offense, Sergeant Jones filed the third
charge for violating the protection order. Id. at 95-96 and Exs. 2 and 3.
{¶ 18} Compston was the final witness and the only defense witness. Compston
denied violating the protection order, denied using the phone numbers on the text
messages, denied sending text messages to L.B., and denied that he had sent L.B. a
photo. According to Compston, the photo had been taken about four years earlier, and
he had probably put the photo on Facebook, where anyone could have accessed it. He
admitted having a TextNow account but said he had not used it for two years. Tr. at 125-
130. Compston further stated that he had never received any text messages from L.B.
and that, after a probation violation the previous year, he had obtained a new phone The
number for this phone ended in 9669, and L.B. never had that number. Id. at 131.
{¶ 19} During cross-examination, Compston admitted that he had, in fact, violated
L.B.’s protection order and that the violation was one of the prior convictions the State
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had presented. Id. at 132. In addition, Compston admitted that a TextNow number
does not have to be attached to a particular phone provided by a carrier like Verizon or
T-Mobile; it can be attached to a phone number, to Facebook, or to an email address.
Id. at 134-135.
{¶ 20} After hearing the evidence, the jury found Compston guilty as charged, and
the court set sentencing for August 28, 2023. At the sentencing hearing, the court
imposed a total prison sentence of 36 months. After the court filed its judgment entries,
Compston timely appealed.
II. Manifest Weight
{¶ 21} Compston’s sole assignment of error states that:
All Counts Must Be Reversed Because They Are Against the
Manifest Weight of the Evidence.
{¶ 22} Under this assignment of error, Compston actually does not argue manifest
weight of the evidence, but he contends his convictions were not supported by sufficient
evidence. His argument is based on the fact that the text for the September 2022 photo
was undated and could have been sent at any time. Compston further contends that the
police failed to investigate whether any email addresses or phone numbers that belonged
to him were registered with TextNow.
{¶ 23} The standards for sufficiency and manifest weight are well-established. “A
sufficiency of the evidence argument disputes whether the State has presented adequate
evidence on each element of the offense to allow the case to go to the jury or sustain the
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verdict as a matter of law.” State v. Wilson, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 22581, 2009-Ohio-
525, ¶ 10, citing State v. Thompkins, 78 Ohio St.3d 380, 678 N.E.2d 541 (1997). In such
situations, we apply the test from State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492(1991), which states that:
An appellate court's function when reviewing the sufficiency of the
evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence
admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, would
convince the average mind of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt. The relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in a light
most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found
the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
(Citation omitted.) Id. at paragraph two of the syllabus.
{¶ 24} In contrast, “[a] weight of the evidence argument challenges the believability
of the evidence and asks which of the competing inferences suggested by the evidence
is more believable or persuasive.” (Citation omitted.) Wilson at ¶ 12. In this situation,
a court reviews “ ‘the entire record, weighs the evidence and all reasonable inferences,
considers the credibility of witnesses and determines whether in resolving conflicts in the
evidence, the jury clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice
that the conviction must be reversed and a new trial ordered. The discretionary power
to grant a new trial should be exercised only in the exceptional case in which the evidence
weighs heavily against the conviction.’ ” Thompkins at 387, quoting State v. Martin, 20
Ohio App.3d 172, 175, 485 N.E.2d 717 (1st Dist.1983). Accord State v. Drummond, 111
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Ohio St.3d 14, 2006-Ohio-5084, 854 N.E.2d 1038, ¶ 193. “The fact that the evidence is
subject to different interpretations does not render the conviction against the manifest
weight of the evidence.” State v. Adams, 2d Dist. Greene Nos. 2013-CA-61, 2013-CA-
62, 2014-Ohio-3432, ¶ 24, citing Wilson at ¶ 14.
{¶ 25} “Although sufficiency and manifest weight are different legal concepts,
manifest weight may subsume sufficiency in conducting the analysis; that is, a finding that
a conviction is supported by the manifest weight of the evidence necessarily includes a
finding of sufficiency.” (Citations omitted.) State v. McCrary, 10th Dist. Franklin No.
10AP-881, 2011-Ohio-3161, ¶ 11. Accord State v. Crawl, 2d Dist. Montgomery No.
29859, 2024-Ohio-752, ¶ 18. Consequently, “a determination that a conviction is
supported by the weight of the evidence will also be dispositive of the issue of sufficiency.”
(Citations omitted.) State v. Braxton, 10th Dist. Franklin No. 04AP-725, 2005-Ohio-2198,
¶ 15.
{¶ 26} Furthermore, “[b]ecause the factfinder * * * has the opportunity to see and
hear the witnesses, the cautious exercise of the discretionary power of a court of appeals
to find that a judgment is against the manifest weight of the evidence requires that
substantial deference be extended to the factfinder's determinations of credibility. The
decision whether, and to what extent, to credit the testimony of particular witnesses is
within the peculiar competence of the factfinder, who has seen and heard the witness.”
State v. Lawson, 2d Dist. Montgomery No. 16288, 1997 WL 476684, *4 (Aug. 22, 1997).
{¶ 27} In the trial court, Compston was indicted for three violations of R.C.
2919.27(A)(1), which provides that: “No person shall recklessly violate the terms of any
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of the following: * * * A protection order issued or consent agreement approved pursuant
to section 2919.26 or 3113.31 of the Revised Code.” The level of the offense is
increased from a first-degree misdemeanor to a felony where a defendant has previously
been convicted of a prior violation of a protection order issued under R.C. 3113.31 or has
been convicted of one or more violations of R.C. 2919.27. See R.C. 2919.27(B)(3)(a)
and (c).
{¶ 28} There was no dispute in this case that a protection order had been issued
to L.B. pursuant to R.C. 3113.31, or that Compston had previously been convicted twice
for violating protection orders. See Ex. 1 at p. 2 (noting the DVCPO was issued under
R.C. 3113.31) and Tr. 132-133 (where Compston admitted he had previously been
convicted of violating the 2021 DVCPO as well as another protection order that was
issued in 2016). Thus, the only question at issue was whether Compston had recklessly
violated the DVCPO.
{¶ 29} R.C. 2901.22(C) states that:
A person acts recklessly when, with heedless indifference to the
consequences, the person disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk
that the person's conduct is likely to cause a certain result or is likely to be
of a certain nature. A person is reckless with respect to circumstances
when, with heedless indifference to the consequences, the person
disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that such circumstances are
likely to exist.
{¶ 30} Given that Compston had already been convicted of violating the DVCPO,
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he was certainly aware of the order, would have known of the consequences of
disregarding it, and would have acted recklessly if he contacted L.B. Therefore, the only
issue is “whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution,
any rational trier of fact could have found” that Compston had violated the order. Jenks,
61 Ohio St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492, at paragraph two of the syllabus. Our review of the
evidence recited above reveals the proof was more than sufficient.
{¶ 31} L.B. testified about the three contacts (and actually more that were not
charged) and provided screenshots of contacts on the dates in question. In addition,
L.B. testified that Compston had previously used the text messaging app, that he was the
only person she communicated with who used it, and that Compston used multiple phone
numbers, including the numbers in question. After the protection order was issued, L.B.
had on various occasions missed calls from Compston on numbers she did not recognize.
When she called back, the call would be from Compston, or if he did not answer, the
voicemail would say that the call was from a TextNow subscriber. L.B. also connected
specific content in the text messages to things that had occurred during her prior
relationship with Compston. Tr. at 105-114, and 117-123. Finally, L.B. stated there was
no doubt in her mind that all the messages were from Compston. Id. at 119-120. Under
the circumstances, a rational fact-finder could have found that Compston had violated the
DVCPO.
{¶ 32} Furthermore, even if we were to consider the manifest weight of the
evidence, while Compston denied any violations, the jury was entitled to weigh credibility
and to believe L.B.’s testimony. The State was also not required to contact TextNow.
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There was no indication that TextNow requires anything other than an email address to
obtain a phone number for texting purposes. This would not necessarily connect a
subscriber with a verifiable identity. In other words, an individual could use many
different email accounts to obtain phone numbers from TextNow, and email addresses
often do not contain a user’s actual name. The police did not need to conduct this kind
of laborious investigation (with no real chance of success) when the proof was already
more than adequate to prove the State’s case.
{¶ 33} Based on the preceding discussion, Compston’s sole assignment of error is
overruled.
III. Conclusion
{¶ 34} Compston’s sole assignment of error having been overruled, the judgments
of the trial court are affirmed.
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TUCKER, J. and HUFFMAN, J., concur.