State v. Chandler
| Decision Date | 26 December 2017 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 2017CA00053 |
| Citation | 2017 Ohio 9279 |
| Parties | STATE OF OHIO Plaintiff-Appellee v. KENYAN LAMAR CHANDLER Defendant-Appellant |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
JUDGES: Hon. W. Scott Gwin, P.J. Hon. William B. Hoffman, J. Hon. Earle E. Wise, J.
CANTON, OH 44702
For Defendant-Appellant
AARON KOVALCHIK
SUITE 808
CANTON, OH 44702
{¶1} Appellant Kenyan Chandler ["Chandler"] appeals his conviction and sentence after a jury trial in the Stark County Court of Common Pleas.
{¶2} Chandler was indicted on one count of Aggravated Robbery, RC 2911.01(A) with a firearm specification, RC 2941.145. The following evidence was presented during Chandler's jury trial.
{¶3} Brandie McGowan testified that she was working at the Gameroom, a skilled game center on October 14, 2016 when two men came in the front door with a gun. McGowan testified that one of the men made the people at the Gameroom stay where they were while the other man took her into the office where he shattered the register and took the money. McGowan then testified that the man made her open the safe and he took all the money from the safe. McGowan also testified that a woman who had come into the Gameroom earlier stood out in her mind because the woman had told her she needed help playing the games and the woman received multiple phone calls. McGowan further testified that the Gameroom had a video surveillance system and the video showed that the men who had come into the Gameroom were wearing gloves and their faces were covered. Upon cross-examination, McGowan testified that she did not recognize Chandler and she did not recall seeing him on October 14, 2016.
{¶4} Officer Chad Kanouff of the Jackson Police Department testified that he was dispatched to the Gameroom on October 14, 2016 in regards to a robbery. Officer Kanouff testified that he met Brandie McGowan and she gave him the name of Shania Summerville as someone he should talk to about his investigation. Officer Kanouff then made contact with Summerville. Summerville denied both verbally and in a written statement that she was involved in the crime or that she was familiar with the robbers. Officer Kanouff asked if he could see the call history on her cell phone. Summerville agreed and Officer Kanouff documented the numbers on his police report. One of the recent numbers was 330-356-xxxx1 a call Summerville received at approximate 10:08 P.M. that evening. Summerville advised the officers that the cell phone number belonged to her boyfriend, Marshawn Oliver. Officer Kanouff did not process the scene for DNA or fingerprints because the men were wearing masks and gloves and no scientific evidence was likely to be found at the scene.
{¶5} The next day, Detective Joshua Escola began his investigation. Detective Escola retrieved and reviewed the videos from the Gameroom. Escola observed that there was a significant height and weight difference between the two male perpetrators. Detective Escola also observed that they were wearing dark clothing, masks and gloves, which indicated that they were experienced and made it hard to collect any scientific evidence.
{¶6} As part of the investigation, Detective Escola typed the cell phone number from Summerville's cell phone call history into the Facebook site. Escola found a Facebook account registered to Chandler with the same cell phone number. Chandler's Facebook account also showed that Summerville was listed as being one of his friends. Detective Escola also discovered that Marshawn Oliver is actually Summerville's family member and not her boyfriend. As a result, Detective Escola attempted to contact Summerville. Initially Detective Escola was unable to contact Summerville because shehad given the officers a fake telephone number. Detective Escola then contacted Amber Walters2. Walters advised Escola that she knew both Summerville and Chandler. She provided Escola with Summerville's number and verified that 330-356-xxxx was the cell phone number for Chandler. At trial, Walters testified that on October 18, 2017, four days after the robbery, Chandler called Walters and told her the cell phone number was no longer good. Walters also testified that Chandler was on a GPS monitor on the night of the robbery and that the monitor had not been charged. Therefore, Chandler's whereabouts were unsupervised when the robbery occurred.
{¶7} Escola contacted Summerville who agreed to come to the Jackson Police Department for a second interview. Initially, Summerville denied knowing anything about the robbery. However, after being confronted with the cell phone and Facebook information, Summerville admitted that she was the lookout for the two men at the Gameroom the night of the robbery. Summerville also advised Detective Escola that the man holding the gun in the video was her boyfriend, Kenyan Chandler. Summerville also identified Taronn Jeffries as the other male accomplice. Detective Escola further testified that Jeffries and Chandler's height and weight were consistent with the men in the Gameroom video. Detective Escola placed Summerville under arrest for complicity to commit aggravated robbery.
{¶8} Summerville was subsequently indicted for a felony five theft, in exchange for her truthful testimony against Chandler. At trial, Summerville testified that in October of 2016 she and her four-year-old son were living with Chandler. She stated that on October 14, 2016, Chandler asked her to scope out the Gameroom. She stated that whenshe arrived at the Gameroom the owner walked her around and taught her how to play the games. While she was there she received two calls from Chandler asking her who was there including how many men and how many women were present.
{¶9} At approximately 10:15, she saw Chandler and Jeffries come through the front door of the Gameroom. She admitted that she saw Jeffries take the owner upstairs, while Chandler stayed at the front door holding the patrons at gunpoint. After the men left, she stayed seated until the police arrived. She testified that she told the officers that she did not know anything about the robbery, and gave them a fake name and number. She testified she did agree to let the officers look at the call history on her phone. She then left the Gameroom, picked up her son and went home.
{¶10} Summerville testified that when Chandlers and Jeffries got to the house they were wearing different clothes. Taronn asked her what she told the police. A couple of days later she got a call from Detective Escola and agreed to meet with him at the Jackson Police Department. Summerville testified that initially she did not tell the truth but later admitted knowing about the robbery and gave Escola the names of the other two men. She stated that because of her confession she was arrested and charged with complicity to commit aggravated robbery.
{¶11} At the time of trial, Summerville testified that she originally testified to the Grand Jury that she did not know that Chandler and Jeffries were involved with the robbery at the Gameroom until after they got home. She also admitted she told the Grand Jury that she could not recognize them by their voices. Summerville further stated that she gave the police the wrong phone number in order to hide from them.
{¶12} After the presentation of evidence, Chandler was found guilty as charged in the indictment. Chandler was sentenced to serve a 6-year prison sentence for the aggravated robbery and a 3-year mandatory consecutive sentence for the firearm specification.
{¶13} Chandler raises four assignments of error,
{¶14} "I. THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION WHEN IT DID NOT GRANT APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR A CONTINUANCE.
{¶15} "II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ALLOWED TESTIMONY THAT WAS MORE PREJUDICIAL THAN PROBATIVE.
{¶16} "III. APPELLANT'S CONVICTIONS WERE AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT AND SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE.
{¶17}
{¶18} In the first assignment of error, Chandler argues that the trial court abused its discretion when the court denied counsel's request for a continuance to recall Detective Escola as a State's witness who had not been subpoenaed by the defense.
{¶19} At trial, the state rested after the testimony of Detective Escola had concluded. (1T. at 223). The court subsequently adjourned for the day, after denying Chandler's Criminal Rule 29 motion for acquittal. (1T. at 227). The following morning, defense counsel informed the court that Chandler wished to have Detective Escola recalled; however, the defense did not subpoena the detective. Therefore, the defense requested a continuance in order to procure Detective Escola. When asked by the trial judge the reason for the request, defense counsel replied, "To cross-examine him again about the phone records." (2T. at 232). The trial court denied the motion.
STANDARD FOR APPELLATE REVIEW.
{¶20} Ordinarily a reviewing court analyzes a denial of a continuance in terms of whether the court has abused its discretion. Ungar v. Sarafite, 376 U.S. 575, 589, 84 S.Ct. 841, 11 L.Ed.2d 921(1964). If, however, the denial of a continuance is directly linked to the deprivation of a specific constitutional right, some courts analyze the denial in terms of whether there has been a denial of due process. Bennett v. Scroggy, 793 F.2d 772 (6th Cir 1986). A defendant has an absolute right to prepare an adequate defense under the ...
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