State v. Conway

Decision Date08 March 2006
Docket NumberNo. 2003-0647.,2003-0647.
Citation2006 Ohio 791,842 N.E.2d 996,108 Ohio St.3d 214
PartiesThe STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. CONWAY, Appellant.
CourtOhio Supreme Court

Ron O'Brien, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, Jennifer L. Coriell, and Susan E. Day, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, for appellee.

Todd W. Barstow, Columbus, and David J. Graeff, Westerville, for appellant.

LANZINGER, J.

{¶ 1} On January 19, 2002, Jason Gervais was shot and killed and Mandel Williams was shot and wounded outside a strip bar in Columbus, Ohio. James T. Conway III was indicted, tried, and convicted by a jury of the aggravated murder of Gervais. He now appeals his convictions and sentence of death.

{¶ 2} Evidence at the trial revealed that on the evening of January 18, 2002, Conway met a group of friends at Dockside Dolls, a strip bar in Columbus, Ohio. Among the group was Conway's brother, Jeff Conway. Conway and his friends had visited Dockside Dolls ("Dockside") regularly during the previous month. The group was well known at Dockside, having spent large sums of money buying expensive bottles of champagne and giving generous tips to the dancers and staff.

{¶ 3} At closing time, approximately 2:30 a.m. on January 19, 2002, a fight erupted in the Dockside parking lot. Witness accounts varied. Some described the fight as a racial confrontation between a large group of white males (Conway's group) and a smaller group of black males. Others did not believe that the fight was racially charged. The brawl lasted several minutes and involved between 25 and 40 people.

{¶ 4} During the fighting, Mandel Williams, who was part of the group of black males, cut Conway's brother Jeff with a knife. Jeff told his brother that he had been cut and pointed out Williams as his attacker.

{¶ 5} At this point, some witnesses heard someone say, "I'm going to get my gun." Conway and his friend, Rob Myers, went to a car parked just east of the club's entrance, from which Myers retrieved a.45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Either Conway or Myers cleared a round from the gun and chambered a live round. When Conway took the gun from Myers, one witness heard Conway say, "I'll kill you guys."

{¶ 6} Conway then moved fast through the parking lot toward Williams. When he was within 30 feet, Conway began shooting at Williams. According to some witnesses, after Conway began shooting, Williams and Jason Gervais, an innocent bystander, became entangled. Others testified that Williams had pulled Gervais into the line of fire in an effort to avoid being shot. In either event, Conway continued to shoot at both Williams and Gervais as he walked toward them. In the end, Conway emptied his weapon, firing a total of eight shots at the two. Conway was within eight feet of Williams and Gervais when he fired the last shots into them as they lay on the ground. After the shooting, Conway and the other members of his group, including his brother, fled the scene and went to Big Mike's Palace, an after-hours nightclub.

{¶ 7} Gervais had been hit four times — once in his left lower back, once in his upper left leg, once in his right buttock, and once in his lower left leg — and died as a result of the bullet that entered his back, which penetrated his left lung. Williams had also been hit four times — once in his left shoulder, once in his left wrist, once in his left knee, and once in his right ankle — but survived.

{¶ 8} Conway was indicted on three counts, including one count of aggravated murder. Count 1 charged that he purposely and with prior calculation and design caused the death of Gervais, R.C. 2903.01(A); Count 2 charged him with the attempted aggravated murder of Williams, R.C. 2923.02(A) and 2903.01(A); Count 3 charged him with having a weapon while under a disability, R.C. 2923.13.

{¶ 9} The aggravated-murder count contained a death-penalty specification, charging aggravated murder as part of a course of conduct involving the purposeful killing or attempt to kill two or more persons. R.C. 2929.04(A)(5). Counts 1 and 2 also contained firearm specifications.

{¶ 10} During the jury trial, the state called Ronald Trent as a witness. Trent was Conway's cellmate following Conway's arrest on February 23, 2002. After discovering that Trent was a distant cousin, Conway confided to Trent that he was the Dockside shooter. Conway told Trent that he had shot Williams for cutting his brother, Jeff. According to Trent, Conway was not concerned when Gervais had gotten in the way, because Conway had had a .45-caliber handgun and knew that the bullets would go through Gervais and hit Williams.

{¶ 11} During their incarceration, Conway also attempted to involve Trent in a plot to kill Brian McWhorter, who had been with Conway at Dockside on the night of the shooting. Because Conway was concerned that McWhorter would testify against him, he offered Trent $30,000 to kill McWhorter and gave him $5,000 as an advance payment. In addition, Conway wanted Trent's help in a scheme to manufacture evidence by videotaping a person who resembled Conway confessing to the Dockside shooting.

{¶ 12} The state called Mark J. Hardy, a firearms and ballistic expert with the Columbus Police Department. Hardy identified all spent shell casings and bullets and one live round recovered from the scene as.45-caliber ammunition. No weapon was recovered, but Hardy was able to establish that all spent bullets and casings had been fired from the same weapon.

Defense Case

{¶ 13} At trial, the defense called Ron Edwards, a criminal investigator, and Conway's brother, Jeff Conway, also testified.

{¶ 14} Edwards had photographed the crime scene and testified regarding what he believed to be bullet strikes on the side of the Dockside building where the shooting had occurred. Edwards testified that the bullet strikes were knee-high. On cross-examination, Edwards admitted that he did not know how long these marks had been on the building or whether they were even related to this shooting.

{¶ 15} Jeff Conway testified that as he was leaving Dockside on the night of the shooting, a man named Corey started an argument with him, and they began to fight. The two had been on bad terms since high school. During the fight, one of Corey's friends grabbed Jeff and placed him in a headlock. Corey hit Jeff, and then Williams cut Jeff twice across his midsection. Jeff testified that he was "cut open pretty bad" and felt blood running down his stomach.

{¶ 16} After Jeff was cut, he was scared and went to his brother in the parking lot, telling him he had been cut. Jeff then started walking to his car. Before he reached the car, he saw Williams coming at him again. Jeff testified that he had seen that Williams had something in his hand. Jeff testified, "I thought he was coming back to finish me off." He pointed at Williams and yelled, "He's coming at me." Jeff then heard gunshots and saw Williams jump back and pull Gervais in front of him, both falling to the ground.

{¶ 17} On cross-examination, Jeff said that he had not seen who had shot Williams and Gervais. Jeff insisted that he did not know whether his brother was the Dockside shooter and denied ever discussing the shooting with Conway. Jeff could not explain why he did not report the knife attack to the police.

{¶ 18} Conway testified that after the fighting in the parking lot had stopped, Jeff walked up to him and said he had been cut. Jeff lifted his shirt, and Conway could see blood flowing from the wound. Conway thought that Jeff was seriously injured and decided to walk Jeff to his car. As they walked to Jeff's car, Conway stopped to talk with the owner of the bar about the fight.

{¶ 19} Conway then heard Jeff screaming, "There's the guy; that's him." Conway testified that he looked up and saw Williams charging down the sidewalk at Jeff. Conway saw no weapon, but Williams was holding his hand down at his side, and Conway was sure that Williams still had a knife. Conway testified, "[W]hen I seen him coming at my brother, I looked around and Rob's standing right beside me and he has a gun in his hand, so I just snatched it out of his hand and just started shooting at the ground, like trying to cut off where [Williams] was coming from." Conway claimed that he had not been trying to kill Williams and so shot low, "like at his hip * * * to stop him from getting to [Jeff]." Conway said he was pulling the trigger as fast as he could and did not pause between shots. He claimed that he had had tunnel vision and had not seen Williams pull Gervais into the line of fire. He said he did not realize that he had shot Gervais until he stopped shooting and both Williams and Gervais were lying on the ground.

{¶ 20} Conway testified that when he saw Williams and Gervais on the ground, he was in shock, and his friends quickly pushed him into a car. Conway's first thought was not to go to the police but to make sure Jeff was all right. Conway left the scene with his friends and went to Big Mike's Palace because that was where Jeff had gone.

{¶ 21} On cross-examination, Conway testified that he had never talked about the Dockside shooting with his brother. Conway said he was mad that Jeff had been cut, but that his first concern was his brother and not going after Williams. Conway denied retrieving the gun from the car and did not see Myers remove the gun from the trunk. Conway described the gun as silver, with a gold Colt emblem on the handle. Police seized an empty Colt gun box from his house, but Conway denied owning a Colt handgun. Conway said he did not know what happened to the gun after the shooting. He also could not explain why he fired eight shots and emptied his weapon if he was trying...

To continue reading

Request your trial
424 cases
  • State v. Holman, Case No. 2017CA00114
    • United States
    • United States Court of Appeals (Ohio)
    • April 9, 2018
    ...that unlawful testimony contributed to a conviction, the error is harmless and therefore will not be grounds for reversal. State v. Conway, 108 Ohio St.3d 214, 2006-Ohio-791, 842 N.E.2d 996, ¶78, citing Chapman; State v. Lytle, 48 Ohio St.2d 391, 358 N.E.2d 623(1976), paragraph three of the......
  • State v. Kamer
    • United States
    • United States Court of Appeals (Ohio)
    • June 17, 2022
    ...... . .           {¶. 98} "[T]he admission of evidence lies within. the broad discretion of the trial court, and a reviewing. court should not disturb evidentiary decisions in the absence. of an abuse of discretion that has created material. prejudice." State v. Conway, 109 Ohio St.3d. 412, 2006-Ohio-2815, 848 N.E.2d 810, ¶ 62, citing. State v. Issa, 93 Ohio St.3d 49, 64, 752 N.E.2d 904. (2001). Abuse of discretion means that the trial court's. decision was. . 41 . . unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable. State ex rel. Askew v. Goldhart, 75 ......
  • State v. Graham
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Ohio
    • December 17, 2020
    ...explained, "the actual decision to question on racial prejudice is a choice best left to a capital defendant's counsel." State v. Conway , 108 Ohio St.3d 214, 2006-Ohio-791, 842 N.E.2d 996, ¶ 33. Counsel has to "weigh the risks inherent in interrogating prospective jurors on the sensitive q......
  • State v. Lawson
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Ohio
    • October 7, 2021
    ...was 23 years old when he committed these murders. Lawson's age "qualifies as a mitigating factor under R.C. 2929.04(B)(4)." State v. Conway , 108 Ohio St.3d 214, 2006-Ohio-791, 842 N.E.2d 996, ¶ 195.{¶ 134} In the penalty phase, Lawson presented testimony from Dr. Stinson, a forensic psycho......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Evidence
    • United States
    • James Publishing Practical Law Books Trial Objections
    • May 5, 2022
    ...that it is intended to represent, and (3) it does not consume undue time, confuse the issues, or mislead the jury. State v. Conway , 842 N.E.2d 996, 1025 (Ohio 2006). “If the expert’s ‘testimony reports the result of a procedure, test, or experiment, the testimony is reliable only if all of......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT