In re T.N.R.
| Citation | 2023 Ohio 85 |
| Decision Date | 12 January 2023 |
| Docket Number | 111367 |
| Parties | IN RE T.N.R. A Minor Child [Appeal by T.N.R., Minor Child] |
| Court | United States Court of Appeals (Ohio) |
2023-Ohio-85
IN RE T.N.R. A Minor Child [Appeal by T.N.R., Minor Child]
No. 111367
Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga
January 12, 2023
Civil Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Division Case No. DL-21-107970
Appearances:
Susan J. Moran, for appellant.
Michael C. O'Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Jacob Williams, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION
MARY J. BOYLE, JUDGE
{¶ l} Appellant-T.N.R. challenges her juvenile adjudications for aggravated robbery, robbery, kidnapping, and felonious assault. T.N.R. argues that there is insufficient evidence to sustain her adjudications and that her adjudications are against the manifest weight of the evidence. She further argues that she was
denied effective assistance of counsel when defense counsel did not move to suppress her videotaped statement to the police. Finding that the filing of a motion to suppress would not have changed the outcome of trial and that there is sufficient evidence to sustain her adjudications, we affirm.
I. Facts and Procedural History
{¶ 2} In September 2021, T.N.R. (d.o.b. 09/06/03) was charged in a ten-count complaint in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile Division, for acts, which if committed by an adult, would constitute felonies ranging from the first degree to the fifth degree. Count 1 charged her with aggravated robbery. Counts 2-4 charged her with robbery. Count 5 charged her with kidnapping. Count 6 charged her with felonious assault. Count 7 charged her with theft. Count 8 charged her with unauthorized use of property. Count 9 charged her with telecommunications fraud.[1] Count 10 charged her with improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle.
{¶ 3} T.N.R., who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, was charged under a complicity theory for the conduct of her boyfriend, Michael Hardiman ("Hardiman"), for the aggravated robbery of Cobra Sparks ("Sparks"), who was selling T.N.R. marijuana. The matter proceeded to trial, at which the following evidence was adduced.
{¶ 4} Sparks testified that on August 21, 2021, he received a call from a younger female he did not know asking to meet at an apartment complex parking lot in Cleveland Heights, Ohio to smoke marijuana. Once Sparks arrived, he called the female and waited for her. Five to ten minutes later, a female got into the front passenger's side of his car. Five seconds later, a male, later identified as Hardiman, came up to the passenger's side door. The female then exited the car, and Hardiman got into the car. Hardiman struck Sparks in the face, cutting his cheek and leaving a scar. Sparks did not observe what Hardiman hit him with but did testify that Hardiman was carrying a gun in his hands. He later testified that he did not think that Hardiman had a weapon but rather "something pretending to be a weapon." (Jan. 18, 2022, tr. 24.)
{¶ 5} Hardiman then told Sparks to "give him the money," reaching into Sparks's pockets and taking some cash. (Jan. 18, 2022, tr. 23.) Sparks stated that Hardiman grabbed some cash out of his pocket but most of the money fell back into his car. Hardiman also took his cell phone. Sparks testified that Hardiman left after he took the money. He then testified that he did not think that Hardiman actually got any of his money and that they drove his car for about ten feet and then Hardiman exited the car. Sparks then volunteered, "I don't even really know where the kidnapping come in at because he got out." (Jan. 18, 2022, tr. 24.)
{¶ 6} When questioned about the ten-foot distance, Sparks further testified saying that he "went in reverse and - and drive. That's it. About two to five feet. Like really not nowhere. So that's when I reversed and went into drive about, yeah,
about five feet and he hopped out." (Jan. 18, 2022, tr. 25.) When asked by the appellee, the state of Ohio ("state"), if he wanted to get out of the car at that time, Sparks replied no because he is paralyzed and in a wheelchair. (Jan. 18, 2022, tr. 25-26.) After Hardiman exited the car, Sparks then drove from the scene and waited in another parking lot, "recuperating" from the incident for ten to fifteen minutes. (Jan. 18, 2022, tr. 27.) He then went home. At home, Sparks called the woman he thought he was meeting and accused her of setting him up. Sparks then decided to drive back to the same apartment complex to look around and report the incident to the police.
{¶ 7} On cross-examination, Sparks testified that he could not identify the female who got into his car and that he did not speak to her as she was only in the car eight to ten seconds. Defense counsel questioned Sparks about his phone and the Cash App. Sparks testified that he gave Hardiman his Cash App handle while they were in the car and that money was transferred from his account to an unknown female's account.
{¶ 8} Cleveland Heights Police Detective Michael Mathis ("Det. Mathis") testified that he investigated the case. As part of his investigation, he was able to create a photo lineup from the apartment complex surveillance footage. From that lineup, Sparks identified Wynzo Brown ("Brown") as a party involved in the robbery. The police determined that Brown was not involved in the robbery, but in an interview with Det. Mathis, Brown was able identify Hardiman and his nephew from the photographs. Before law enforcement put out an arrest warrant for Hardiman,
Brown's sister, Tanya Gatson ("Gatson"), brought Hardiman and T.N.R. to the police station for an interview on September 9, 2021. Det. Mathis further testified that T.N.R was arrested after the interview.
{¶ 9} Following her arrest, T.N.R. had an asthma episode that necessitated treatment while being processed in the Cleveland Heights jail, and she was taken to MetroHealth Hospital. Det. Mathis and Det. Robinson ("Det. Robinson") followed T.N.R. to the hospital and interviewed her while she was in a hospital bed. The interview was recorded and played for the court. The video depicts Det. Mathis and Det. Robinson in T.N.R.'s hospital room while she is receiving a breathing treatment for her asthma attack.
{¶ 10} T.N.R. did not have a parent or guardian present during the questioning. She had turned 18 years old three days prior to the interview. The video first depicts T.N.R. being read her Miranda rights and then signing a waiver. T.N.R. initially denied any involvement with Sparks or the Cash App. She then stated that she bought marijuana that she did not like and that Hardiman wanted to get his money back. The detectives continued to question T.N.R. She told the detectives that she did not call Sparks and told them to look at her phone records.[2]The detectives told T.N.R. that she needed to tell them what happened or she could end up in prison. They told T.N.R. that the charges were serious and gave her a notepad to write down what happened. The detectives told T.N.R. that if she told
them what happened, she would get out of jail in the morning. The detectives told T.N.R. that they would help her out by planning for her to go to juvenile detention instead of county jail because she was 17 years old at the time of the incident. T.N.R. said she would tell the truth as long as Hardiman did not find out.
{¶ 11} In the video, Det. Mathis can be heard telling T.N.R. if she did not call Sparks, then he wanted to eliminate her from the crime. At this point, T.N.R. can be observed telling the detectives that she was with Hardiman when they pulled into a gas station. Hardiman exited his vehicle to talk with some females. T.N.R. did not hear what was said because she was still in the vehicle. The group then drove to another house where they planned the robbery, but she was not part of the conversation. The group then drove to the apartment complex where the females from the gas station were already parked. T.N.R. then stated that Hardiman told her to go into Sparks's car and tell him she wanted marijuana. She stated that when she got into the car, Sparks started flirting with her. Then, suddenly, Hardiman pulled her out of the car, and T.N.R. walked away and got into another car. Hardiman drove around with Sparks, and T.N.R. did not know where he went. When Hardiman returned, he had a car seat cover that he threw away, and the two of them went inside an apartment in the complex. T.N.R. did not know how much money Hardiman had, but he split it with the females and Raymond Brown ("Raymond"). Hardiman gave her two packets of marijuana later. T.N.R. observed Raymond hand Hardiman a gun at the time of the incident that Hardiman returned to Raymond afterwards.
{¶ 12} The detectives told T.N.R. that her statement helped her immensely and they wanted to clear her. The detectives also stated that she got caught in circumstances in which she was with her boyfriend when he did something stupid. During the interview, T.N.R. can be observed receiving medical treatment, at which point the interview stopped. After the conclusion of the video, Det. Mathis made an in-court identification of T.N.R. (Jan. 18, 2022, tr. 56.)
{¶ 13} On cross-examination, Det. Mathis testified that law enforcement believed that T.N.R. set up the incident. He further testified that Sparks's cell phone records indicated that he did not receive a call or text from T.N.R.'s phone number, which confirmed what she told the detectives at the hospital. Det. Mathis further testified that T.N.R.'s Cash App account was not used to receive any money from Sparks's Cash App account. T.N.R. told Det. Mathis that she is scared of Hardiman and Raymond and that she would tell him the truth as long as they did not find out.
{¶ 14} Det. Mathis further testified that Sparks is "a known weed seller in that area. * * * Everybody knows the guy in the wheelchair is the one that sells the weed." (Jan. 18, 2022, tr. 68.)...
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