State v. Bias
| Docket Number | 21AP-329 |
| Decision Date | 22 December 2022 |
| Citation | 204 N.E.3d 639 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Devon D. BIAS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
On brief: G. Gary Tyack, Prosecuting Attorney, and Seth L. Gilbert, for appellee. Argued: Seth L. Gilbert.
On brief: Dennis C. Belli, Columbus, for appellant. Argued: Dennis C. Belli.
DECISION
{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, Devon D. Bias, appeals from a judgment of conviction and sentence entered by the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas following a bench trial. For the following reasons, we affirm that judgment.
{¶ 2} On December 28, 2017, appellant and co-defendant, Darnell Vinson, were indicted on four counts of murder in violation of R.C. 2903.02 (), all unspecified felonies, one count of discharging a firearm at or into a habitation or school safety zone in violation of R.C. 2923.161, a second-degree felony, three counts of attempted murder in violation of R.C. 2923.02 as it relates to 2903.02, all first-degree felonies, three counts of felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11, all second-degree felonies, and one count of having weapons while under disability ("WUD") in violation of R.C. 2923.13, a third-degree felony. All but the WUD count included firearm, drive-by shooting, and criminal gang activity specifications. The charges arose from the shooting deaths of Q.S. and S.C. and the attempted shooting deaths of Jaw.L., Jar.L., and E.B.1 on December 4, 2017.
{¶ 3} Appellant and Vinson were tried separately. Appellant voluntarily waived his right to trial by jury and elected to be tried by the court.
{¶ 4} The bench trial commenced on April 19, 2021. The prosecution presented live testimony from several witnesses. Jaw.L. did not testify at trial; however, following an Evid.R. 804(B)(6) hearing conducted midway through the trial, the trial court admitted video recordings of statements made by Jaw.L. during two police interviews conducted shortly after the shootings. (State's Exs. Y-1, Y-2.) By agreement of the parties, the prosecution played selected portions of those interviews. (State's Exs. Y, Y-1, Y-2.)
{¶ 5} In the interviews, Jaw.L. averred that sometime after 9:15 a.m. on December 4, 2017, he and his passengers, Jar.L., Q.S. and E.B., were driving around the Hilltop area in Columbus in a Honda CR-V. Jaw.L. observed a gray Chevy Malibu with dark-tinted windows and expensive-looking wheel rims directly ahead of him. Jaw.L. had seen the car in the area many times. Jaw.L. followed the Malibu for about one block and then unsuccessfully attempted to turn onto another street. At that point, the Malibu abruptly stopped; a person leaned out of the passenger side window and began shooting at the CR-V with a semi-automatic rifle. Jaw.L. described the shooter as a thin, African American male with "dark skin" and "chin hair," wearing a black hoodie and "a hat, a black skull cap type thing." (Jan. 3, 2018 Tr. at 480; State's Ex. Y-2.) Jaw.L had never seen the shooter before; however, he got a glimpse of his face and noted that his complexion was a shade or two darker than his own.2 Jaw.L. demonstrated how the shooter leaned out of the window and propped his gun on top of the Malibu. He averred that when bullets began hitting the CR-V, Q.S. grabbed him, pushed his head down and told him to unlock the door. As Q.S. exited the car, he was shot in the neck; he ran away and eventually collapsed in an alley. The shooting continued as Jaw.L., Jar.L., and E.B. ran away. Jaw.L. thought the shooter might be a member of the Hot Boys, a criminal gang operating on the west side of Columbus. Jaw.L. speculated that the shooter knew who he was and targeted him because he thought Jaw.L. was intentionally following the Malibu.
{¶ 6} Bradley H. Foss, a Columbus Division of Police ("CDP") patrol officer, testified that he was dispatched to the scene at approximately 9:30 a.m. Upon arrival, Foss observed the CR-V stopped in the middle of the intersection of Ray Street and South Wayne Avenue ("South Wayne"). The CR-V was unoccupied, but the engine was still running. Upon closer inspection, Foss noted broken windows, multiple bullet holes, and a significant amount of blood in the back seat. A blood trail leading away from the CR-V signaled to Foss that someone had been shot inside the CR-V and then exited on foot. Foss located numerous shell casings—fired from both an automatic rifle and a handgun—on the ground near the CR-V.
{¶ 7} Shortly thereafter, patrol officers Todd Aiello and Michael Ryan arrived at the scene. Aiello testified that area residents directed them to an alley near South Wayne, where a young African American male, later identified as Q.S., lay on the ground with a gunshot wound to his neck. Q.S. was unconscious and bleeding profusely.3 The officers canvassed the neighborhood, but found no one who had witnessed the shooting.
{¶ 8} Crime Scene Search Unit ("CSSU") Detective Donald K. Jones testified that he collected evidence and took photographs at the scene. During this process, Jones noticed several bullet holes in the front section of a house located at 215 South Wayne, near where the CR-V was stopped. Through the front window, Jones observed bullet strikes in a wall and a gunshot victim, later identified as S.C., on the floor of the living room.4
{¶ 9} Photographs taken by Jones depict multiple bullet strikes to the CR-V, a blood trail leading from the CR-V to the alley where Q.S. was found, multiple bullet strikes to the front and interior of the house where S.C. was found, multiple 7.62x39 millimeter and .40 caliber shell casings near the CR-V, and a hat found in the street near the scene. (Apr. 19, 2021 Tr. at 165; State's Ex. B.) At trial, Jones described the hat as "clean" and not "weathered," which suggested to him that it had not been in the street very long. (Tr. at 153, 154.) CSSU collected numerous items, including, as relevant here, seventeen .40 caliber shell casings, thirteen 7.62x39 shell casings,5 and a "black/gray knit hat," from the Wayne Avenue area, and six projectiles and two bullet fragments from 215 South Wayne Avenue. (State's Ex. B and C-234).
{¶ 10} Robbie Thompson testified that he was outside working in the vicinity at the time of the shooting. He heard what he thought were multiple gunshots—"like a pack of fireworks going off"—and then observed a gray Chevy Malibu with temporary license tags "flying" down the street.
(Tr. at 187, 191.) Thompson saw the occupants of the Malibu, whom he described as two "younger" African American males, only for a few seconds; as such, he could not identify them. Id. at 187. Later that evening, after seeing a news report about the murders, he called the police and reported what he had seen and heard.
{¶ 11} Homicide Detectives Melissa Carlson6 and Anne Novotny7 testified that they obtained surveillance camera video from a business located near the scene of the shootings. (State's Ex. L, L-1, L-2, L-3, L-4; Joint Stip. Ex. 2). Criminal Intelligence Analyst Amber Gill testified that she examined the surveillance video, which depicts a Honda CR-V following a gray Chevy Malibu with 30-day temporary license tags and a white front dealership placard at approximately 9:26 a.m. on December 4, 2017. (Tr. at 203; State's Ex. L, L-1, L-2, L-3, L-4.)
{¶ 12} Carlson also testified about Jaw.L.’s police interviews. To that end, she averred that she asked Jaw.L. for the names of any persons with whom he had conflicts. Jaw.L. provided the names of several members of the Hot Boys gang. (Tr. at 485, 539; State's Ex. Y-2.) Carlson testified that Jaw.L. did not indicate that these individuals were involved in the shootings; rather, he stated several times that he had never seen the person who shot him. (Tr. at 542; State's Ex. Y-2.) Upon investigation, Carlson found no connection between the named individuals and the shootings; she admitted, however, that she did not prepare a written summary of her investigation into those individuals.
{¶ 13} Detective Lowell Smittle from the Narcotics Bureau Criminal Intelligence Unit ("CIU") testified that on December 11, 2017, he received information leading to the discovery of a gray Chevy Malibu with 30-day temporary tags and a front white dealership placard on East Barthman Avenue. Following its impoundment, the Malibu was photographed and processed by CSSU. The photographs depict a bullet strike above the window on the rear passenger side of the vehicle and fragments of a bullet found inside the vehicle. (Tr. at 366-371; State's Ex. J-7 through J-20.) According to Smittle, the bullet had been fired from the front passenger side toward the rear of the Malibu. The bullet fragments were recovered and analyzed; however, their irregular shape precluded any determination as to the source of their firing. (Tr. at 371; State's Ex. K, K-1, K-2, K-3.) No DNA or fingerprints were recovered from the Malibu.
{¶ 14} Gill determined that the Malibu recovered from Barthman was the same one depicted in the surveillance video. She further determined that the vehicle was registered to Vinson's girlfriend, Shakiyla Kendrick.
{¶ 15} CDP traced Kendrick to a residence on Mayfair Boulevard. (Joint Stip. Ex. 7.) On December 12, 2017, SWAT Officer Mark Aurentz observed Kendrick and Angel Watkins leave the residence and place two bags in the trunk and backseat of a car. Id. After Watkins, the car's owner, signed a consent to search form, Carlson and Novotny recovered the bags from the vehicle. (State's Ex. F-53; Joint Stip. Ex. 7.) CSSU Sergeant Joseph Donovan photographed the bags and transported them to the CSSU laboratory for processing. (State's Ex. F; Joint Stip. Exs. 1 and 7.) Pursuant to a search warrant, and as relevant here, CDP recovered a Glock .40 caliber pistol, a .40 caliber magazine, and .40 caliber ammunition from the bags.
{¶ 16} Firearms examiner Erica Pattie testified that she compared a projectile recovered from...
To continue reading
Request your trial