State v. Dennis

• Decision Date: 24 September 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-1376,96-1376
• Citation: 683 N.E.2d 1096,79 Ohio St.3d 421
• Parties: The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. DENNIS, Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 421

79 Ohio St.3d 421

683 N.E.2d 1096

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

No. 96-1376.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted July 7, 1997.

Decided Sept. 24, 1997.

Maureen O'Connor, Summit County Prosecuting Attorney, Philip D. Bogdanoff and Paul M. Maric, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, for appellee.

Peter T. Cahoon and Nathan A. Ray, Akron, for appellant.

ALICE ROBIE RESNICK, Justice.

In this appeal, Dennis has raised twenty-one propositions of law. Finding none meritorious, we affirm his convictions. In addition, we have independently reviewed the record, weighed the aggravating circumstances against the mitigating factors, and examined the proportionality of the death sentence in this case to the penalty imposed in similar cases. Upon a complete review of the record, we affirm Dennis's convictions and sentences.

I Pretrial/Voir Dire Issues

In Proposition of Law No. 1, Dennis contends the trial court erred in failing to suppress his oral statements to police. Dennis further submits that the state failed to show that he was sober when he waived his Miranda rights, and therefore under the totality of circumstances, the prosecution failed to demonstrate that he understood his Miranda rights.

During the suppression hearing, Akron Police Lieutenant Robert Offret testified that he and two other detectives interviewed Dennis after he had been given Miranda warnings. In the taped interview, Dennis stated that he had not been under a doctor's care or on any medications, and had not consumed any alcohol. However, Dennis admitted to smoking "two joints" of marijuana two hours earlier. Nevertheless, Offret stated there wasn't anything about Dennis's behavior that would have led him to believe that Dennis was intoxicated. Moreover, Dennis's responses in the taped interview do not exhibit any of the usual symptoms of intoxication, such as slurred speech, inattentiveness, and inability to understand questions.

Whether a statement was made voluntarily and whether an accused voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waived his right to counsel and right against self-incrimination are distinct issues. Both, however, are measured by the totality-of-circumstances standard. State v. Clark (1988), 38 Ohio St.3d 252, 261, 527 N.E.2d 844, 854.

A review of the tape and transcript indicates that after police read Dennis each Miranda right, they asked him if he understood it, and he responded affirmatively. In addition, Dennis initialed each line on the Miranda warning form, acknowledging that he understood his rights, and he signed the waiver of rights. Evidence of a written waiver form signed by the accused is strong proof that the waiver was valid. Clark; see North Carolina v. Butler (1979), 441 U.S. 369, 374-375, 99 S.Ct. 1755, 1758-1759, 60 L.Ed.2d 286, 293. Moreover, there is no evidence that police subjected Dennis to threats or physical abuse, or deprived him of food, sleep, or medical treatment. See State v. Cooey (1989), 46 Ohio St.3d 20, 28, 544 N.E.2d 895, 908.

Under the totality of circumstances, Dennis made a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver of his constitutional rights. Accordingly, we reject Proposition of Law No. 1.

In Proposition of Law No. 2, Dennis argues that the trial court erred in failing to suppress items seized pursuant to a search warrant at the residence of Shirley Morgan. Dennis asserts that he has standing to object to a search of Morgan's home, and that he had an expectation of privacy in the area where the items were seized, since he allegedly had permission to spend part of the night there on the night of the murder.

A few days after the Kyle murder, police received an anonymous phone call supplying information regarding the whereabouts of a possible suspect in the murder. After obtaining this information, police received permission from Morgan to speak to her son, Lavar Anderson, and to look around her house for coats that were reportedly worn by the suspects to the murder. After finding coats in the basement that matched the description of the coats they sought, the police asked permission to take them, but Morgan refused their request and said she needed to talk to her attorney. At that time, police took Anderson into custody, and Anderson later told them where he and Dennis hid the weapons in the basement after the murder. Based on this information and their personal observations, police obtained a search warrant for Morgan's home and later seized the coats and the weapons used in the robberies and murder.

Fourth Amendment rights are personal in nature and may not be vicariously asserted by others. Alderman v. United States (1969), 394 U.S. 165, 174, 89 S.Ct. 961, 966-967, 22 L.Ed.2d 176, 187; Rakas v. Illinois (1978), 439 U.S. 128, 133-134, 99 S.Ct. 421, 425, 58 L.Ed.2d 387, 394; State v. Coleman (1989), 45 Ohio St.3d 298, 306, 544 N.E.2d 622, 631. A defendant bears the burden of proving not only that the search was illegal, but also that he had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the area searched. See Rawlings v. Kentucky (1980), 448 U.S. 98, 104, 100 S.Ct. 2556, 2561, 65 L.Ed.2d 633, 641.

Dennis has failed to show that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in Morgan's residence. While an overnight guest has standing to challenge the legality of a search, Minnesota v. Olson (1990), 495 U.S. 91, 96-97, 110 S.Ct. 1684, 1688, 109 L.Ed.2d 85, 93, there was no evidence that Dennis stayed overnight or that he was residing at Morgan's home at the time of the search. In fact, once Morgan discovered that Dennis was in her house the night of the murder, she made him go home.

Dennis has failed to demonstrate that he had standing to object to the warrant or subsequent search. Coleman. Moreover, Morgan clearly had authority over the premises that she permitted police to enter and view. See Illinois v. Rodriguez (1990), 497 U.S. 177, 188, 110 S.Ct. 2793, 2801, 111 L.Ed.2d 148, 161. The police had Morgan's consent to search the premises, and the items seized were therefore the fruits of a valid search. Accordingly, Proposition of Law No. 2 is not well taken.

In Proposition of Law No. 5, Dennis contends that the court erred in refusing to excuse juror Terri Harris once it discovered that she had been a victim of crime.

During the jury's penalty-phase deliberations, the trial court learned that Harris had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child, when a detective asked the court to momentarily excuse Harris from deliberations in order to sign a criminal complaint. The court brought Harris into chambers before the parties and conducted a voir-dire examination of her at that time. Harris explained that she had decided not to mention the sexual abuse during the original voir-dire examination because she did not feel it fit the definition of violent crime. She reached this conclusion after asking the trial judge's bailiff during jury selection for a definition of "violent crime." Harris indicated that at that time, she concluded that her experience was not "violent" when compared to murder, and, therefore, did not bring it to the court's attention.

The court questioned Harris extensively, and she was adamant that her status as a victim of sexual abuse had nothing to do with what happened to the Kyle family or Dennis, and that she could separate the two experiences and be impartial. The court asked defense counsel if they had anything they wished to put on the record, and defense counsel indicated they did not. After Harris returned to the jury room, counsel for both sides informed the court that just prior to trial they became aware of the fact that Harris had been a witness to sexual abuse. Counsel for both parties agreed that it probably wasn't necessary for them to act upon it. However, at the end of the trial, defense counsel filed a motion for mistrial upon learning that Harris was a victim of sexual abuse, and not just a witness.

A trial court enjoys broad discretion in determining a juror's ability to be impartial. State v. Williams (1983), 6 Ohio St.3d 281, 288, 6 OBR 345, 351, 452 N.E.2d 1323, 1331. The trial court's decision to allow Harris to remain on the jury did not amount to an abuse of discretion, especially in light of the court's voir-dire examination of Harris conducted in chambers during penalty-phase deliberations. See State v. Maurer (1984), 15 Ohio St.3d 239, 250-251, 15 OBR 379, 389, 473 N.E.2d 768, 781. Accordingly, Proposition of Law No. 5 is overruled.

In Proposition of Law No. 7, Dennis asserts the trial court erred in permitting the prosecution's peremptory challenges of two prospective jurors who were African-Americans in violation of Batson v. Kentucky (1986), 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69. Dennis submits that the prosecution failed to provide a neutral explanation for exercising peremptory challenges on prospective jurors McGinnis and Dortch.

In order to state a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination under Batson, an accused must demonstrate (1) that members of a recognized racial group were peremptorily challenged, and (2) that the facts and circumstances raise an inference that the prosecutor used the peremptory challenges to exclude prospective jurors on account of their race. State v. Hernandez (1992), 63 Ohio St.3d 577, 582, 589 N.E.2d 1310, 1313; State v. Hill (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 433, 444-445, 653 N.E.2d 271, 282. If the accused makes a prima facie case of discrimination, the state must then come forward with a neutral explanation. Id. However, a trial court's finding of no discriminatory intent "will not be reversed on appeal absent a determination that it was clearly erroneous." Hernandez at 583, 589 N.E.2d at 1314.

The trial court held that "with Batson in mind," the state's peremptory challenges of prospective jurors McGinnis and Dortch were proper. Moreover, the court's ruling was not "clearly erroneous" under Hernandez. The facts and circumstances underlying the prosecutor's exercise of...