State v. Bies

• Decision Date: 17 January 1996
• Docket Number: No. 94-1538,94-1538
• Citation: 658 N.E.2d 754,74 Ohio St.3d 320
• Parties: The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. BIES, Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 320

74 Ohio St.3d 320

658 N.E.2d 754

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

No. 94-1538.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Nov. 7, 1995.

Decided Jan. 17, 1996.

[658 N.E.2d 756] Shortly after daybreak on May 12, 1992, police found the bludgeoned body of ten-year-old Aaron Raines in the basement of an abandoned building in the 2100 block of West Eighth Street in Cincinnati. A nine-week investigation led the police to two suspects: Darryl "Junior" Gumm and defendant-appellant Michael Bies.

The police investigation revealed that the day before Aaron's body was discovered, Gumm and Bies were drinking beer and idling the day away in a park adjacent to the abandoned building in which Aaron's body was found. As evening approached, they decided they wanted to have sex with a child.

Aaron Raines, a small ten-year-old, was playing in the park that evening. Aaron had had some physical difficulties as the result of being struck by a van a year earlier. In addition, Aaron wore a partial cast on his right foot because he had dropped weights on his toe earlier that spring.

Gumm, who knew Aaron, approached the boy and offered him $10 to help him and Bies remove scrap metal from an abandoned building near the park.

After Aaron accepted Gumm's offer, Bies, Gumm and Aaron entered one abandoned building and crossed over a walkway into a second abandoned building. At this point, Aaron began to resist. Once inside this second building, Gumm attempted to have intercourse with Aaron, but Aaron screamed and resisted. When Aaron refused, Gumm struck him. Aaron began to cry. Bies admitted striking Aaron with a wooden board across the chest or head. Gumm then carried Aaron down into the basement of that building.

The beating continued in the basement. Bies further admitted he hit Aaron with a pipe three or four times, and with a piece of concrete, two or three times. Aaron was also kicked with such force as to leave the imprint of shoe tread patterns on his body.

Bies and Gumm left Aaron in the basement. They returned to the first building and performed oral sex on one another. They then left the area and went their separate ways.

When Aaron did not return home that evening, his nineteen-year-old brother became concerned and began to look for him. When Aaron's mother came home from work that night, she phoned the police to report him missing. The police searched the surrounding area, but left the search of the abandoned buildings until morning because of their dilapidated condition.

When police discovered Aaron's body the next morning, several objects were located around the body, including a rock, a metal pipe, some rope and pieces of wood. Human hairs found on these objects were consistent with the hair sample taken from Aaron's head. Blood stains found on the pipe and piece of concrete were also consistent with Aaron's blood type.

The autopsy revealed that Aaron had sustained nineteen separate scalp lacerations, representing distinct injuries or impacts, and that there were so many tears of the scalp that they had become almost one wound. The wounds on the back of his head were consistent with injuries that would be left by the threads of a metal pipe. The entire left side of Aaron's face had been flattened by severe skull fractures caused by a very heavy and broad implement, such as a brick, a chunk of concrete, or a rock. Bleeding of the muscle tissue around Aaron's windpipe was observed, indicating pressure had been exerted around the neck by some sort of ligature, like a piece of twine.

Other injuries sustained by Aaron included five broken ribs, four of which punctured his right lung, a broken jaw, chipped teeth, a pattern injury on the back caused by some sort of long thin object like a tube or a stick, and scrapes on the back of the right leg consistent with drag marks. There was no evidence of any defensive wounds. Cause of death was multiple blunt injuries to Aaron's head, neck, chest and abdomen.

Police arrested Gumm and questioned him about his involvement in the murder. After talking to Gumm, the police went to Hazard, Kentucky, to question Bies.

Bies gave several statements to the police, two of which were tape-recorded. Initially, he denied any involvement in the murder. However, once the police presented him with information they already had, Bies admitted that he was with Gumm that day, but essentially stated that Gumm was responsible for what had occurred.

As a result of his statements, the police arrested Bies and transported him to Cincinnati. Bies offered to return to the crime scene to refresh his memory of the events in order to assist the police in solving the case. As they walked through the buildings and the surrounding area, Bies offered detailed statements regarding the instruments used to kill Aaron, including that the pipe had threading around the top and that the weapons used to kill Aaron were similar in weight to other objects lying around the building.

When they returned to the police station, the officers told Bies that they knew he was lying because of the detailed comments he had given at the crime scene. Bies then gave his last statement, which was unrecorded per his request, admitting to his involvement in Aaron's death.

Bies was indicted on one count of aggravated murder, R.C. 2903.01, with three death penalty specifications: one under R.C. 2929.04(A)(3) (offense committed to escape detection for attempted rape or kidnapping) and two under R.C. 2929.04(A)(7) (felony-murder based on underlying felonies of kidnapping and attempted rape). Bies was also indicted on the separate charges of attempted rape (R.C. 2907.02 and 2923.02) and kidnapping (R.C. 2905.01). At the conclusion of the guilt phase, the jury found Bies guilty on all counts and specifications.

At his sentencing hearing, Bies made an unsworn statement. A letter Bies had composed for the purpose of his statement was read by his attorney when Bies had trouble reading it. In the letter, Bies stated that this was the first time he had ever been in court, and asked for mercy and a life sentence. Bies also called Dr. Donna E. Winter, a clinical psychologist, to testify on his behalf.

Winter reviewed an evaluation made of Bies when he was three years old, in which he was characterized as being "violent and uncontrollable." Hospital records of Bies indicated that he was abused during his childhood, and that his upbringing was chaotic, neglectful and violent. Between the ages of five and thirteen, Bies had made several suicide attempts or threats. Bies was too disruptive for public school, so he was placed in several different special schools. Winter believed that Bies is still a very impulsive person, who at times cannot control his anger and becomes hostile. Winter evaluated Bies's I.Q. as being in the range of mildly to borderline mentally retarded. Although Winter described Bies as a "very dense individual" lacking common sense, she conceded that everyone who evaluated Bies, including herself, concluded that Bies knew right from wrong at the time of the murder.

The jury recommended the death penalty, and the trial court imposed a capital sentence. The court also imposed consecutive terms of imprisonment for the attempted rape and kidnapping.

Upon appeal, the First District Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions and sentence of death.

This cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right.

Joseph T. Deters, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and William E. Breyer, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Deardorff & Haas, Timothy J. Deardorff and Loren S. Haas, Cincinnati, for appellant.

FRANCIS E. SWEENEY, Sr., Justice.

Appellant raises twenty-four propositions of law for our review. (See Appendix.) Many of these propositions either have not been preserved or have already been rejected in prior case law. Pursuant to R.C. 2929.05, we will not address and discuss, in opinion form, each proposition of law. See, e.g., State v. Poindexter (1988), 36 Ohio St.3d 1, 520 N.E.2d 568, syllabus; State v. Scudder (1994), 71 Ohio St.3d 263, 643 N.E.2d 524; State v. Simko (1994), 71 Ohio St.3d 483, 644 N.E.2d 345. However, we have fully reviewed the record and passed upon each proposition prior to reaching our decision. We have also independently assessed the evidence relating to the death sentence, balanced the aggravating circumstances against the mitigating factors, and reviewed the proportionality of the sentence to sentences imposed in similar cases. As a result, we affirm appellant's convictions and death sentence.

PRETRIAL MOTIONS

Motion to Suppress (XVI)

In Proposition of Law XVI, Bies argues that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress his statements made to police officers. Bies contends that he lacked the mental capacity to waive his Miranda rights, and that under the totality of the circumstances, his confession was involuntary.

A review of the officers' testimony and the taped statements of Bies reveals that he was advised of and waived his Miranda rights before each interview with the police. Moreover, at no time during the motion to suppress hearing did defense counsel attempt to establish that Bies lacked the mental capacity to voluntarily waive his Miranda rights. As noted in State v. Hill (1992), 64 Ohio St.3d 313, 318, 595 N.E.2d 884, 890, while the state must prove voluntariness by a preponderance of the evidence, a low mental aptitude of the interrogee is not enough by itself to show police overreaching. Following Colorado v. Connelly (1986), 479 U.S. 157, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473, this court recognized that evidence of police coercion or overreaching is necessary for a finding of involuntariness. Hill, supra. None of the interviews of Bies indicates police coercion, threats, mistreatment or physical deprivation. The questioning of Bies was neither prolonged nor intense. Under the totality of circumstances test of State v. Smith (1991), 61...