State v. Anthony Lemons, 98-LW-0396
| Decision Date | 15 January 1998 |
| Docket Number | 71644,98-LW-0396 |
| Parties | STATE OF OHIO, Plaintiff-Appellee v. ANTHONY LEMONS, Defendant-Appellant CASE |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Criminal appeal from Common Pleas Court Case No. CR-323266.
For plaintiff-appellee: Mark J. Mahoney, Assistant County Prosecutor, The Justice Center - 8th Floor, 1200 Ontario Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44113.
For defendant-appellant: Daniel Abrams, 2436 Elmdale Road University Heights, Ohio 44118.
Appellant, Anthony Lemons, appeals his convictions of murder and attempted murder each with a firearm specification.
The body of Eric Sims was discovered on April 14, 1994, at 1875 Cliffview, Apt. #203, in Cleveland. The coroner's report indicated that the victim died within 24 to 72 hours of examination or no earlier than April 11, 1994.
On January 5, 1995, almost nine months after the murder, Jude Adamcik made a statement to the police implicating the appellant, Anthony Lemons. In that statement Ms. Adamcik indicated that the murder took place on April 4, 1994.
On May 10, 1995, the defendant was indicted with the date of the offenses set forth as April 14, 1994.
The appellant filed a motion for discovery on May 25, 1995, to which the State responded on June 29, 1995, including a Bill of Particulars. Included in this Bill of Particulars was the alleged approximate date of the murder, between April 8 1994, and April 13, 1994. On July 12, 1995, the appellant filed his Motion to Examine Exculpatory and Mitigatory Material. On August 10, 1995, A Motion for Disclosure of Grand Jury Testimony was filed. This Motion was denied by the trial court.
On August 18, 1995, appellant filed a Motion for an In-Camera Inspection of the Record to Determine the Existence of Exculpatory and Mitigatory Material. A hearing on this motion was conducted on September 6, 1995. Upon full examination by the trial court of the police reports and the written statements which were in the possession of the prosecuting attorney, the motion was denied. It was the opinion of the trial court that nothing in the record would aid the appellant in his defense, and as a result, no disclosure was necessary. Trial was set for October 5, 1995.
At trial, the prosecution presented seven witnesses. Wilbur Sims, the brother of the victim, stated that he became alarmed as to his brother's whereabouts when he had not heard from him in ten days to two weeks. Subsequently, he went over to 1875 Cliffview Manor, Apt. #203, to check on him. After receiving no response at the door, Wilbur contacted the custodian to open the door. Once in the apartment, Wilbur saw his brother slumped over the table next to the couch, apparently shot to death. Wilbur also testified that although he had never seen his brother use drugs, he suspected him to be a user.
Michael Rodgers, a Cleveland police officer, stated that he responded to a call for a dead body, probably natural, at Eric Sims' apartment. Upon arrival, he met with fire and EMS personnel and was informed that the matter might involve a homicide. Rodgers then secured the crime scene and notified the Homicide Unit of the Cleveland Police Department. Rodgers went on to identify the photographs taken of the crime scene, which were admitted into evidence. He also authenticated a crime scene sketch, as well as two spent .25 caliber shell casings, as being those found by him in the victim's apartment.
Dr. Robert Challener testified that the victim sustained two gunshot wounds; one was in the left chest, while the other was found in the back of the victim's head at the junction of the head and neck. This second wound caused extensive destruction to the victims brain stem and was immediately fatal. During autopsy, Dr. Challener recovered two .25 caliber pellets from the victim which were admitted into evidence.
He further noted that the victim had trace amounts of alcohol in his blood and cocaine in his urine. The significance, according to Challener, is that Eric Sims had ingested cocaine within eight hours of his death. He was able to ascertain this because the cocaine had been metabolized by his body, and was ready to be eliminated. After weighing all variables used to determine the approximate time of death, it was Challener's opinion that Eric Sims had been dead approximately 24 to 72 hours upon discovery. On cross-examination, Challener specified that since the body had been discovered on April 14, 1994, the date of death would be between the 11th and 13th of April.
Detective Samuel Reese identified a photocopy of a crime scene drawing he made in connection with the murder of Sims. He further authenticated and identified the crime scene photos, and the two .25 caliber spent casings seized at the murder scene.
Detective Kovach testified that from April, 1994, to October, 1994, the investigation of the murder of Eric Sims yielded no meaningful information. However, in October, and again in November of 1994, Kovach received anonymous tips which led to and included a license plate number. Running the plate number resulted in Kovach learning that the car belonged to John Thompson of Euclid. On January 5, 1995, after several failed attempts to reach Thompson by phone, Kovach reached a potential witness, Jude Adamcik. That same day, Kovach drove to Euclid, picked up Adamcik and returned to the Homicide Unit where he recorded her written statement. This was labeled as an exhibit, but not admitted into evidence.
In that statement Adamcik identified the shooter as a male by the name of "Tones. The detective diligently perused the police files and put together a photo lineup of six individuals known to use the nickname "Tone". On January 9, 1995, this photo lineup was shown to Adamcik, and Adamcik was able to identify the appellant, Anthony Lemons, as the person who shot and killed Eric Sims. After many attempts to arrest appellant, including a failed surrender on Mr. Lemons' part, appellant was arrested on April 26, 1995. Ms. Adamcik was asked to view a lineup, and unequivocally identified the appellant as the perpetrator.
Detective Robert Minor, of the Cleveland Police Department Scientific Investigation Unit, testified that on January 8, 1995, during the investigation, and prior to the arrest, he was dispatched back to the original crime scene to verify another part of Ms. Adamcik's story. Adamcik had claimed that appellant had shot at her just after killing Sims, and that a bullet should be lodged in the wall of the apartment. Upon arriving at the scene, Minor took three photos of a hole located on the rear wall near a closet. These pictures were entered into evidence. Significantly, Minor also stated that he was able to locate the same suspected bullet hole in an original crime scene photo. However, no bullet was ever recovered.
Jude Adamcik testified that she was an eyewitness to the murder of Eric Sims. She related that on April 4, 1994, she went out with her boyfriend, John Thompson, to the Ground Round Restaurant. After dinner, at approximately 10:00 p.m., she was dropped off at the corner of Mayfield and Green, so that her boyfriend would not know where she was now living. In the past he had been abusive. In order to get to her home, she proceeded to hitchhike. Harold Salters, a friend of Ms. Adamcik, stopped and offered her a ride. Also in Harold's car was a man she did not know. On the way home, Salters indicated to Adamcik that they had to make a stop at Cliffview Manor.
Once at Cliffview, Adamcik waited in the car as Harold and the unidentified man went into the building. However, Adamcik developed a need to go to the bathroom, so she entered the apartment building and proceeded to the apartment from which she heard her friend Harold's voice. Ms. Adamcik entered the apartment, a one room apartment with a kitchen and a bath, and saw four men: Harold Salters, the man with Harold, Mr. Sims, and Lemons. She was introduced to Lemons by Harold who identified the appellant as "Tone". As Adamcik entered the apartment she indicated that the appellant, and the three other men were engaged in a drug transaction. She identified Lemons as the person who was dealing the drugs. She then entered the bathroom to use the facilities.
While in the bathroom, appellant opened the door and told Adamcik that her friends had left, and that he had given them drugs in return for sexual favors to be performed by her. Specifically, appellant told Ms. Adamcik to perform oral sex. Feeling she had no choice, she began to do as requested. While she and appellant were so engaged, Sims began forcefully knocking on the bathroom door stating that he wanted some drugs, and his rent payment for the use of his apartment to perform the drug transaction. Appellant quickly became irritated, pulled up his pants and exited the bathroom. Lemons began yelling at the victim and "bitch slapping" him. Lemons then pulled out a gun and shot Sims once. Approximately, ten seconds later, appellant shot Sims again.
Lemons then turned his attention to Adamcik. He fired one shot as Adamcik dove to the floor. Adamcik laid on the floor, to play dead, and did not move for a short period of time. Upon getting up, she noticed Sims slumped across the arm of the couch and proceeded to check for a pulse. Realizing he was dead, and fearing for her safety, Adamcik wiped the apartment clean of her fingerprints and left. She told her boyfriend what had happened, afraid to notify the authorities, and subsequently decided it would be safer not to get involved.
Upon being contacted by the police, she related the events of the evening and participated in both the photo lineup, and an "in person" lineup. On each occasion, she identified appellant as the shooter.
At the close of the State's...
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