State v. Ashworth

• Decision Date: 24 March 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-1497,97-1497
• Citation: 706 N.E.2d 1231,85 Ohio St.3d 56
• Parties: The STATE of Ohio, Appellee v. ASHWORTH, Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 56

85 Ohio St.3d 56

706 N.E.2d 1231

The STATE of Ohio, Appellee v. ASHWORTH, Appellant.

No. 97-1497.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Oct. 28, 1998.

Decided March 24, 1999.

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT

1. In a capital case, when a defendant wishes to waive the presentation of all mitigating evidence, a trial court must conduct an inquiry of the defendant on the record to determine whether the waiver is knowing and voluntary.

2. A defendant is mentally competent to forgo the presentation of mitigating evidence in the penalty phase of a capital case if he has the mental capacity to understand the choice between life and death and to make a knowing and intelligent decision not to pursue the presentation of evidence. The defendant must fully comprehend the ramifications of his decision, and must possess the ability to reason logically, i.e., to choose means that relate logically to his ends.

Appellant, Herman Dale Ashworth, was charged with two counts of aggravated murder of Daniel L. Baker and with a separate count of aggravated robbery. A specification that the aggravated murder was committed during the course of an aggravated robbery was attached to each murder count. In addition, a specification that the murder was committed to escape detection for the aggravated robbery was attached to the second murder count. Ashworth pled guilty and waived the presentation of mitigating evidence. The three-judge panel found a sufficient basis to find him guilty of aggravated murder, all capital specifications, and the aggravated robbery count, and sentenced him to death. He appeals his convictions and death sentence.

Ashworth had been living in Louisiana and had moved to Newark, Ohio, in April 1996. He was living with his cousin, Ron Sillin. On September 10, 1996, Ashworth went to the Wagon Wheel Bar and began drinking. Another cousin, Louis Dalton, also stopped off at the Wagon Wheel for a few drinks, around 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. Dalton stayed for a couple of hours, and before he left, Ashworth asked him whether he could borrow some money. Dalton told him no.

Lloyd Thompson, owner of the Wagon Wheel, saw Ashworth in the bar around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. Ashworth asked Thompson whether he could borrow $10, but Thompson said no. Thompson later saw Ashworth talking to a man whom Thompson had not seen before, but who was later identified as Daniel Baker. People in the bar, including Baker, were buying Ashworth drinks. Ashworth told Thompson that he thought that Baker was gay and he (Ashworth) was going to get rid of him. Thompson did not observe anything that would indicate that Baker was gay, nor did Thompson see any advances made by Baker toward Ashworth. Thompson saw Ashworth and Baker leave together. Thompson saw Ashworth later in the evening but never saw Baker again. When Ashworth returned to the bar, he appeared to have over $40 with him. Ashworth asked Thompson to cover for him if the cops came in. It appeared to Thompson that Ashworth's right hand was swollen.

Tanna Brett, Ashworth's girlfriend, saw Ashworth that evening outside the TNT Bar and Wagon Wheel Bar. As they were talking to each other Brett grabbed Ashworth's right hand. Ashworth fell to his knees in pain, and told Brett that he hurt his hand in a fight with a guy. Ashworth took her behind the Legend Bar, to the Salvation Army loading dock. Brett observed a man lying on his belly but did not see any blood. However, she heard what sounded like snoring coming from him. She did not observe any belongings on the ground, and they stayed less than a minute. She did notice that Ashworth had blood on one shoe.

Brett and Ashworth proceeded to the TNT Bar, where Ashworth bought a "bucket of beer." Brett noticed that Ashworth had a $5 bill, a few singles, and a $10 bill. Ashworth told Brett that he thought he should go back and finish the guy off, because he did not want to be recognized. Brett begged him not to go back, and Ashworth told her he was going over to the Wagon Wheel Bar. Brett stayed at the TNT until "last call," around 2:15 a.m. She then went over to the Wagon Wheel, but Ashworth was not there. She proceeded to the Legend Bar to look for him. When she got near the Legend, she heard a noise that sounded like something hitting metal. She walked toward the noise, which was coming from the Salvation Army loading dock. She saw the same man lying on his back, with his head against the garage door. There was a lot of blood. This time she observed papers and articles strewn about. She could hear the man breathing, and saw him move his hand a little bit. She left because it made her sick to her stomach.

Brett returned to the Wagon Wheel, grabbed Ashworth, and said, "You robbed him." Ashworth did not say anything; he just looked at the floor. She saw dark spots on his pants.

Earlier that evening, around 9:30 p.m., Dalton had received a call from Ashworth. Ashworth told him that he had been in a fight and "kicked the shit out of this guy." Ashworth said that he kicked him until he could not kick him any more. He mentioned that his hand hurt.

Around 3:45 a.m. on September 11, 1996, Daniel Baker's body was found on the Salvation Army loading dock. By the time police arrived, he was already dead. There was blood around Baker's head and upper shoulder area. There was so much blood that it had seeped underneath the garage door. Items belonging to Baker were strewn about the area. Bloody footprints surrounded the area and also were evident on Baker's chest. While police were investigating the crime scene, a 911 call came into the police station (around 4:13 a.m.). The caller said that he had beaten a man badly and left him on the loading dock of the Salvation Army. The call was traced to a public telephone located less than a mile from Ashworth's house.

Based on their investigation, police went to the home of Ron Sillin, where Ashworth was residing. Initially they knocked and rang the doorbell, but no one answered. They called Ron Sillen and obtained permission to enter. They found Ashworth asleep in the back bedroom. They woke him and asked him to come down to the police station for questioning. He ultimately agreed, and dressed. After being informed of his Miranda rights, he agreed to make a taped statement.

According to Ashworth, he had been drinking at the Wagon Wheel, starting around 3:30 p.m. Baker arrived around 8:00 p.m., and the two started talking together. Upon Baker's suggestion, the pair went over to the Legend Bar, where they had a beer, and then Ashworth suggested going back to the Wagon Wheel. On the way back to the Wagon Wheel, Baker told Ashworth that he wanted to show him something. They went around the corner, where, Ashworth claimed, Baker "reached down and grabbed me on my butt." Ashworth told him to stop, that he was not "that way," but Baker would not stop. Ashworth said that he kept trying to move away from Baker, and they ended up on the loading dock. Baker kept moving toward him and again tried grabbing him. Ashworth began to hit him with his fist, and "freaked out." Baker did not fight back, but kept coming at him, saying "it's okay," "it'll be all right." Ashworth said that he eventually picked up a board, about six inches wide and five feet long, and struck Baker with it. After Baker fell down, Ashworth then kicked him. Ashworth took the wallet out of Baker's pants, but denied keeping the wallet; instead, he said he just took the money, about $42. The remaining contents of the wallet spilled out. Ashworth stated that he had not planned to take the wallet or money, but he just thought of it at the time.

Ashworth said that he went back to the Wagon Wheel Bar and drank and then went to the TNT Bar and drank some more. He then went home but did not remember how he got there. He woke up Sillin and asked him to take him up to Tee Jaye's Restaurant to get something to eat. On the way back, he asked Sillin to stop so he could use the phone because he was worried about Baker, but Sillin told him not to worry about it. After he got home, he said that he began to worry and walked back to the pay phone and called 911. He told the operator that he had hurt someone, that the person needed some help, and described the location, but he did not identify himself. He then went back home and went to bed. Ashworth never admitted going back to the loading dock a second time.

During his statement to police, Ashworth indicated that the clothes he had worn were at his house and that he was wearing the shoes he had on during the encounter with Baker. The shoes had blood on them, and the police confiscated them. The officers asked for Ashworth's consent to obtain the clothing he had worn, and he gave it. The police also obtained a search warrant. The pants they recovered had blood on them and in the front pants pocket, contrary to Ashworth's statement, they found Baker's driver's license and credit cards. The soles of Ashworth's shoes matched the bloody footprints found at the scene and on the victim's shirt.

The coroner found that Baker had died as a result of numerous blunt force injuries. He stated that the injuries he observed were typical of those he was more likely to see as a result of a car accident or an airplane crash. In his twenty years of practice, he had seen only one other case with such severe injuries as a result of a beating. The coroner opined that with such injuries, death would normally occur in ten to twenty minutes.

At his request, Ashworth was first examined for competency to stand trial and was found competent. Ashworth eventually decided that he wanted to plead guilty to the crime and waive the presentation of mitigating evidence so that he would be executed. As a result of Ashworth's decision, his original lead counsel, George C. Luther, withdrew, and new lead counsel, W. Joseph Edwards, was appointed. Edwards requested that Ashworth be examined for competency to waive further proceedings, including mitigation, under the...