State v. Crowe
| Decision Date | 30 September 2019 |
| Docket Number | NO. 1-19-12,1-19-12 |
| Citation | 145 N.E.3d 1180,2019 Ohio 3986 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dalton K. CROWE, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Reed D. Searcy, for Appellant
Jana E. Emerick, Lima, for Appellee
{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Dalton K. Crowe ("Crowe"), appeals the February 27, 2019 judgment of sentence of the Allen County Court of Common Pleas. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
{¶2} On April 3, 2018, Joshua McPheron ("Joshua") was living with his brother, Jonathan McPheron ("Jonathan"), at 207 West Grand Avenue in Lima, Ohio. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 166-167). Although Joshua had been sober for approximately seven months, he came home that day with a bottle of alcohol knowing "he was going to relapse and have a drink * * *." (Id. at 167-168). When Joshua arrived home, he saw that Crowe, who was a friend of Jonathan's, was sitting next to Jonathan on the couch. (Id. at 168). Joshua informed Jonathan and Crowe that he "wanted to be left alone that day" and withdrew to his basement bedroom where he "[s]tarted having some drinks." (Id. at 168-169).
{¶3} After spending some time drinking alcohol in the basement by himself, Joshua invited his friend, Angie Jordan ("Jordan"), to "hang out." (Id. at 169); (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 231). Once Jordan arrived, Joshua and Jordan listened to music, talked, and started "taking some drinks." (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 170). Eventually, Jordan came upstairs and asked Crowe whether he wanted to join her and Joshua. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 232). Crowe accepted Jordan's offer, followed her into the basement, and began imbibing Joshua's alcohol. (Id. ); (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 170). According to Jordan, she and Joshua became drunk, but Crowe was just "buzzed [be]cause he only had a little bit." (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 245).
{¶4} At some point, Jordan began giving Joshua a haircut. (Id. at 234); (State's Exs. 27, 28). Joshua and Jordan decided to broadcast video of Joshua's haircut via Facebook Live using Joshua's cell phone, which Joshua held in his hand, and Jordan's cell phone, which Crowe held. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 234-235); (See State's Exs. 27, 28). In the videos, Joshua and Crowe can be heard arguing and trading insults. (See State's Exs. 27, 28). Initially, Joshua and Crowe's interaction was mostly "friendly," and the two were "joking," "laughing," and "playing." (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 181); (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 236); (See State's Exs. 27, 28). However, "playing went to arguing," the encounter soon "escalated," and a physical altercation ensued in which Crowe "backhanded" Joshua and Joshua struck Crowe in the face and knocked him to the ground. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 172-173, 182-183); (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 236-238, 247); (State's Exs. 27, 28). Once the scuffle ended, Crowe mounted the staircase leading out of the basement. (State's Ex. 27). There, Crowe continued to scream threats and obscenities at Joshua. (Id. ). Joshua responded by taunting Crowe until Crowe turned and climbed the stairs with Jordan following closely behind him. (Id. ). Joshua did not try to prevent Crowe from climbing the stairs, and he remained in the basement for approximately fifteen seconds after Crowe went upstairs. (Id. ).
{¶5} When Crowe scaled the staircase to the main level of the residence, Jonathan, who had been napping upstairs, was awoken by Crowe's shouting. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 256-257). As Crowe walked through the living room past Jonathan, Jonathan noticed that Crowe was carrying a steak knife in his hand. (Id. at 258). According to Jonathan, Crowe "went to the front door and * * * pac[ed], like he was waiting for someone maybe, or maybe he was trying to leave, or wanted to leave but wasn't sure he wanted to." (Id. at 259). By then, Joshua had emerged from the basement and joined Crowe, Jonathan, and Jordan in the front room. (Id. at 239, 259); (State's Ex. 27). After arguing with Crowe for a few seconds, and before Jonathan could attempt to disarm Crowe, Joshua "head[ed] towards the front door and bl[ew] right past" Jonathan and Jordan. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 239, 259); (See State's Ex. 27). As Joshua moved toward the front door, Crowe began walking toward Joshua with his "guard up." (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 261). Ultimately, Crowe and Joshua "met like right there in the front room * * * coming at each other" and began fighting again. (Id. at 261-262).
{¶6} A few seconds later, Jonathan moved to separate Joshua and Crowe. (State's Ex. 27). By this time, Crowe had "backed himself up" against a wall and Joshua was delivering punches to Crowe's face. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 252); (State's Ex. 27). While separating Joshua and Crowe, Jonathan wrested the knife from Crowe "because [he] was actually trying to shove it in farther" into Joshua's chest. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 262); (See State's Ex. 27). Once Joshua and Crowe were separated, Crowe left the front room and moved toward the back of the residence. (See State's Ex. 27). At that time, Jonathan and Jordan realized that Joshua was bleeding profusely and that Crowe was gone. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 240, 263); (See State's Ex. 27). Joshua was transported to a local hospital where he received treatment for puncture wounds to his chest
and left bicep and a slash wound to his neck. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 148, 176); (See State's Exs. 1, 2, 3, 4).
{¶7} Crowe was apprehended by law enforcement officers shortly after fleeing from 207 West Grand Avenue. (See Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 208-210, 216-217). When he was placed under arrest, law enforcement officers noticed that he "had blood smeared on his person," though they did not note any active bleeding. (Id. at 210-211, 217); (See State's Exs. 30, 33, 34). Despite the blood visible on his face and arms, when Crowe was taken to the hospital for treatment, his only apparent injuries were a swollen, bruised left eye and a small cut on one of his fingers. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 223); (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 292-293); (State's Exs. 30, 31, 35, 36).
{¶8} On April 4, 2018, the day after the incident, Crowe was interviewed by Detective Steven Stechschulte ("Detective Stechschulte") of the Lima Police Department. (See State's Ex. 37). At various points in the interview, Crowe admitted that he used a knife against Joshua during the fight, but Crowe insisted that he was the victim in the altercation. (Id. ). When asked why he grabbed the knife instead of leaving the residence, Crowe remarked that he was "very scared," "distraught," and disoriented. (Id. ). Crowe stated that he armed himself with the knife because he perceived that Joshua was pursuing him closely as he left the basement. (Id. ). However, he eventually conceded that he "should have left as soon as [the basement fight] happened" and that he should have "kept running" out of the residence after leaving the basement. (Id. ). Throughout the interview, Crowe resisted characterizing his state of mind as angry or "pissed" at the time he confronted Joshua with the knife. (Id. ).
{¶9} On May 17, 2018, the Allen County Grand Jury indicted Crowe on one count of felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(2), (D)(1)(a), a second-degree felony. (Doc. No. 4). On May 25, 2018, Crowe appeared for arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the count of the indictment. (Doc. No. 11).
{¶10} A jury trial was held on January 8 and 9, 2019. (Doc. Nos. 29, 77); (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. I, at 1); (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 230). At the close of the evidence, Crowe requested a self-defense jury instruction, which the trial court declined to issue. (Jan. 8-9, 2019 Tr., Vol. II, at 319-320). However, the trial court granted Crowe's request for an aggravated-assault jury instruction and charged the jury to consider whether Crowe committed the inferior offense of aggravated assault rather than felonious assault. (Id. at 320, 367-368). After deliberations, the jury found Crowe guilty of felonious assault as charged in the indictment. (Id. at 379-380); (Doc. No. 77). The trial court filed its judgment entry of conviction on January 10, 2019. (Doc. No. 78).
{¶11} On February 27, 2019, the trial court sentenced Crowe to three years in prison. (Doc. No. 86).
{¶12} On March 25, 2019, Crowe filed a notice of appeal. (Doc. No. 91). He raises two assignments of error for our review.
The trial court erred and abused its discretion by failing to give a jury instruction on self-defense.
{¶13} In his first assignment of error, Crowe argues that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to issue a self-defense jury instruction. Crowe argues that "sufficient evidence was presented to merit an instruction on the affirmative defense of self-defense" and that the trial court thus abused its discretion by declining to give the instruction. (Appellant's Brief at 6-10).
{¶14} " ‘Generally, a trial court must provide the jury with all instructions that are relevant and necessary to weigh the evidence and discharge their duties as the fact finders.’ " State v. Suffel , 3d Dist. Paulding No. 11-14-05, 2015-Ohio-222, 2015 WL 308261, ¶ 38, quoting State v. Sunderman , 5th Dist. Stark No. 2006-CA-00321, 2008-Ohio-3465, 2008 WL 2788627, ¶ 21, citing State v. Joy , 74 Ohio St.3d 178, 181, 657 N.E.2d 503 (1995) ; State v. Thiel , 3d Dist. Wyandot No. 16-16-01, 2017-Ohio-242, 2017 WL 277584, ¶ 135 (), quoting Murphy v. Carrollton Mfg. Co. , 61 Ohio St.3d 585, 591, 575 N.E.2d 828 (1991). "However, ‘a court need not instruct the jury as a party requests if "the evidence adduced at trial is legally insufficient" to support it.’ " Suffel at ¶ 38, quoting ...
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