State v. Abdullah
| Decision Date | 07 November 2022 |
| Docket Number | 2021-L-051 |
| Citation | 200 N.E.3d 627 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rashied M. ABDULLAH, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Charles E. Coulson, Lake County Prosecutor, and Jennifer A. McGee, Assistant Prosecutor, Lake County Administration Building, 105 Main Street, P.O. Box 490, Painesville, OH 44077 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).
Vanessa R. Clapp, Lake County Public Defender, and Melissa A. Blake, Assistant Public Defender, 125 East Erie Street, Painesville, OH 44077 (For Defendant-Appellant).
{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Rashied M. Abdullah, appeals from his convictions and sentence for Rape, Felonious Assault, and Kidnapping, following a jury trial in the Lake County Court of Common Pleas. For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the lower court.
{¶2} On August 14, 2020, the Lake County Grand Jury issued an Indictment, charging Abdullah with Rape (Count One), a felony of the first degree, in violation of R.C. 2907.02(A)(2) ; two counts of Felonious Assault (Counts Two and Three), felonies of the second degree, in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(1) and (2) ; and three counts of Kidnapping (Counts Four, Five, and Six), felonies of the first degree, in violation of R.C. 2905.01(A)(2), (3), and (4).
{¶3} A jury trial was held on January 26-28, 2021. The following pertinent testimony and evidence were presented:
{¶4} On June 26, 2020, T.W., a 17-year-old, was walking to various locations near her home to fill out job applications. T.W. testified that, as she was walking, a man unknown to her, later identified as Abdullah, pulled up in a vehicle and asked her name. T.W. wanted to get to know him and accepted his offer for a ride home. He requested her phone number and later sent her a text message asking to "chill." T.W. agreed and he picked her up. They went to a lake and walked around, sat together, and hugged. He touched her buttocks and she asked him to stop, which he did. She subsequently asked him to drive her home and he responded that he needed to pick something up from his residence. He drove to a hotel and told T.W. that he was staying there because he travels often. After Abdullah paid at the front desk, the two went to a hotel room.
{¶5} According to T.W., after entering the room, Abdullah went to the restroom, exited with his shirt off, sat on the bed, and asked her to "come over." She then requested to go home. He began kissing her, she pulled away and said no, telling him she needed to return home because she had snuck out. He became aggressive, grabbed her arm, got on top of her and kissed her. She tried to push him off and said she did not want to have sex. After she told him to get off of her multiple times, he punched her in the face. She asked to leave again, he said no, and continued to punch her in the face.
{¶6} According to T.W., Abdullah then started to pull down her pants, she grabbed his hand, and he punched her in the face again. She testified that he "put his fingers in me." She explained that she was wearing her underwear at the time, and he placed his hand inside the top of her underwear. He then exposed himself. She tried to use the restroom and he jumped up and stopped her. She asked him to turn on the light in an attempt to get him to walk away and then removed a box cutter from her purse. He removed his clothes and asked her to get on top of him and she did so because he ordered her to. He kissed her, and when she again said she did not want to have sex with him and he should get a prostitute, he became mad, grabbed her by the neck and punched her again. She then cut him on the neck with the box cutter, and they began pushing each other. She ran to the door to leave but he kicked it with his foot, bit her on the back and punched her in the face, causing her to fall and black out. During the struggle, Abdullah grabbed her hand with the boxcutter and "made [her] cut [her]self on" the thigh. After he bit her on the face, there was a struggle and she was able to get away. T.W. found a guest at the hotel who called police. When police arrived, she told them Abdullah had taken her from her house at gunpoint because she did not want her parents to know she snuck out.
{¶7} On cross-examination, T.W. stated that she had been voluntarily hugging Abdullah and was voluntarily at the hotel, although she believed they were just there for him to pick up his clothing.
{¶8} Anthony DiDona, a Wickliffe Police Department Patrolman, responded to a dispatch at the Quality/Econo Lodge, and saw the victim, who was wearing a towel stained in blood and had a swollen forehead and cheeks and cuts on her body. She was out of breath, stated "he just tried to rape me," and described Abdullah. According to DiDona, T.W. told him she had encountered Abdullah earlier that day and he later abducted her from her home at gunpoint. DiDona testified that T.W. described the events in a manner similar to her testimony, including the denial of Abdullah's physical advances and the struggle within the hotel room. T.W. told DiDona that Abdullah inserted a finger in her vagina. DiDona photographed her injuries at the hospital, which included bruising and scrapes on her leg, chest, arms and shoulder, bite marks on her shoulder and cheek, and swelling on her face. He testified that, by the way T.W. was acting, it appeared she had been through a high stress event.
{¶9} Danielle Stoehr, a registered nurse, spoke with T.W. at the hospital. According to her testimony, T.W. told her a version of events similar to her testimony, which included Abdullah taking her to the hotel at gunpoint and her refusal to have sex. Stoehr indicated that T.W. stated Abdullah had taken off her underwear and "put his fingers in there." Stoehr described T.W. as sad, upset, and tearful. After a physical examination, she found no injury to T.W.’s vaginal area.
{¶10} Patrick Hengst, a former Wickliffe Police Department Lieutenant, spoke to T.W. at the hospital to clarify whether she was taken at gunpoint, as he felt this fact was inconsistent with the evidence and video from the hotel. She admitted that this statement was untrue and that she snuck out of her house to meet with him. As to the assault, she told him that he pulled her underwear down in order to rape her.
{¶11} Hengst testified that when Abdullah was subsequently arrested, Hengst observed that he had cuts that were healing. He interviewed Abdullah and a video of the interview was played for the jury. In that interview, Abdullah stated that T.W. pulled a knife on him because he would not drive her home, that any activity between the two was consensual, and that he did not "remember if a finger or two may have slid in her vagina."
{¶12} Dr. Karen Zavarella of the Lake County Crime Laboratory testified that DNA from swabs taken from a bitemark, T.W.’s hand, inner thigh, and fingernails, and the interior crotch area of her shorts were consistent with Abdullah's DNA. The box cutter contained DNA from both T.W. and Abdullah. Vaginal swabs contained too much female DNA to identify any male DNA.
{¶13} During the trial, the State moved to dismiss Count Four as duplicative. At the close of the State's case, the defense moved for acquittal pursuant to Crim.R. 29, which motion was denied.
{¶14} The jury found Abdullah guilty of Rape, Felonious Assault, and two Counts of Kidnapping, as charged in the indictment. The verdict was memorialized in a February 1, 2021 Judgment Entry.
{¶15} A sentencing hearing was held on March 29, 2021, and the sentence was memorialized in a Sentencing Entry. The court merged the counts of Felonious Assault and the counts of Kidnapping. Defense counsel indicated this was Abdullah's first sex offense and that most of his prior convictions were for theft related offenses. T.W. stated that this had "put [her] through a lot." The State argued that consecutive sentences were necessary and requested a sentence of at least twenty years in prison. The court stated its consideration of the factors under R.C. 2929.11 and .12 and that the imposed sentence was "a minimum of six years and a maximum of nine years" for the counts of Rape and Felonious Assault and "a minimum of eight years and a maximum of twelve years" for Kidnapping, the aggregate minimum was 20 years, and the aggregate maximum was 24 years. The court ordered all three sentences to be served consecutively. The court found, at the hearing and in its sentencing entry, that the consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public from future crime or punish the defendant, that they were not disproportionate to the seriousness of his conduct and the danger posed to the public, and the offenses were committed as part of a course of conduct and Abdullah's history of criminal conduct demonstrates consecutive sentences are necessary to protect the public. In the sentencing entry, the court stated that the defendant "has been sentenced to a minimum term on each qualifying count as detailed below" and included a chart which stated the sentences for Rape and Felonious Assault as "6 years Minimum (Maximum 9 years)" and Kidnapping as "8 years Minimum (Maximum 12 years)." The entry also stated: "Having imposed the minimum terms on Counts 1, 3, and 5, the Court further sentences the defendant to an aggregate minimum term of 20 years and an aggregate maximum term of 24 years."1
{¶16} Abdullah timely appeals and raises the following assignments of error:
{¶17} "[1.] The trial court erred to the prejudice of the defendant-appellant when it denied his motion for acquittal made pursuant to Crim.R. 29(A).
{¶18} "[2.] The trial court erred to the prejudice of the defendant-appellant when it returned a verdict of guilty against the manifest weight of the evidence.
{¶19} "[3.] The trial court's order of consecutive sentences for an aggregate minimum of twenty years pursuant to 2929.14(C) was not supported by the record and is contrary to law.
{¶20} "[4.] The...
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