State v. Ford
| Decision Date | 07 November 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 2015-1309,2015-1309 |
| Citation | 2019 Ohio 4539,158 Ohio St.3d 139,140 N.E.3d 616 |
| Parties | The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. FORD, Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Sherri Bevan Walsh, Summit County Prosecuting Attorney, and Heaven R. DiMartino and Jacquenette S. Corgan, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, for appellee.
Maro & Schoenike Co. and Lynn A. Maro ; Boardman, and John B. Juhasz, Youngstown, for appellant.
Dave Yost, Attorney General, Benjamin M. Flowers, State Solicitor, and M. Ryan Harmanis and Thomas E. Madden, Assistant Attorneys General, for amicus curiae, Ohio Attorney General.
Stewart, J. {¶ 1} This is an appeal of right from aggravated-murder convictions and a death sentence. A Summit County Common Pleas Court jury found appellant, Shawn Ford Jr., guilty of the aggravated murders of Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert and unanimously recommended a death sentence for Margaret's murder. The trial court accepted the recommendation and sentenced Ford accordingly.
{¶ 2} We affirm Ford's convictions. However, we remand this case to the trial court to evaluate whether Ford is intellectually
disabled in accordance with the criteria set forth in this opinion.
I. Trial Evidence
{¶ 3} Evidence introduced at trial showed that on March 23, 2013, Ford stabbed his girlfriend, Chelsea Schobert, after hitting her in the head with a brick. While Chelsea was in the hospital, her parents, Jeffrey and Margaret, were concerned for Chelsea's safety and did not permit Ford to visit her. On April 2, Ford broke into the Schoberts' home with Jamall Vaughn. Jeffrey was home and in bed. Margaret was at the hospital with Chelsea. Ford killed Jeffrey and then waited for Margaret to return home from the hospital. Margaret was killed when she came home. Ford stole Jeffrey's car and other valuables from the Schoberts' home.
A. Chelsea's Assault
{¶ 4} Chelsea started dating Ford in August or September 2012. On Friday, March 22, 2013, Chelsea celebrated her 18th birthday with Ford, Zachary Keys, and Joshua Greathouse at Zachary's Akron residence. They started drinking around 11:00 p.m., and everyone became highly intoxicated.
{¶ 5} At some point, Ford and Chelsea went to a bedroom. According to Chelsea, Ford wanted to have sex, but she was not feeling well and asked him to wait. Ford pushed her onto the bed. Chelsea said "no" and got up. She told Ford, "I hate you." Ford then hit Chelsea in the head.
{¶ 6} Zachary and Joshua were in the living room watching TV when Ford and Chelsea went into the bedroom. After 10 to 15 minutes, Zachary went to the bedroom after hearing a "thud." He found Chelsea halfway off the bed with a gashed head. A brick with blood on it was nearby. Zachary asked Ford, "What the hell is going on here?" Ford left the bedroom. He returned with a knife and stabbed Chelsea in the neck and back.
{¶ 7} Zachary stopped Ford from stabbing Chelsea again and told him to take her to the hospital. They took Chelsea to the car, and Ford drove her to the hospital. Chelsea suffered a spinal injury that left lasting effects.
1. Cover-up of the Assault
{¶ 8} On Saturday, March 23, Ford told Zachary to tell the police that Chelsea had been assaulted by some guys at a party in Kent. He also told Joshua, "I want to make sure that you don't talk about this."
{¶ 9} On March 25, Akron Detectives Bertina King and Richard Morrison went to the hospital to speak to Chelsea. Chelsea indicated that she did not know her attacker. The detectives also learned that there was a Global Positioning System ("GPS") tracker on Chelsea's car. The GPS showed that the car had been at Zachary's residence on the night of March 22 and not in Kent.
{¶ 10} Later on March 25, the detectives conducted a recorded interview with Ford. Ford stated that Chelsea indicated she had been attacked at a party in Kent. After being told about the GPS tracker, Ford told police that they were at Zachary's house when Chelsea was attacked. Ford claimed that they were assaulted by someone Zachary owed money to and that the person hit Chelsea with a gun when she started cursing at him.
{¶ 11} Ford, Zachary, and Chelsea each identified the same person, a man known as Ruiz, in a photo array. On March 27, the police arrested Ruiz and charged him with Chelsea's assault. Ruiz denied his involvement and provided a good alibi. The police later determined that he was telling the truth.
2. Ford Prohibited from Visiting Chelsea at the Hospital
{¶ 12} Chelsea's room was in a secured part of Akron Children's Hospital, and she did not have a phone in her room.
{¶ 13} Even though Ruiz had been arrested, the Schoberts did not permit Ford to visit Chelsea in the hospital. The Schoberts and law enforcement thought this was best for her safety.
B. The Discovery of Jeffrey and Margaret Schobert
{¶ 14} Around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. on April 1, Jeffrey went home from the hospital while Margaret remained with Chelsea. Margaret left the hospital and went home at about 6:00 a.m. on April 2. Around 1:30 p.m. on April 2, Nickolas Gerring, a building contractor working on the Schoberts' home, found Jeffrey's and Margaret's bodies in their bedroom. Gerring called 9-1-1. A New Franklin police officer responding to the scene found Jeffrey on the bed and Margaret on the floor next to it. Both of them had multiple, massive head wounds. A sledgehammer was lying on the bed next to Jeffrey. Jeffrey's car was missing.
C. The Murder Investigation Begins
{¶ 15} George Staley from the Crime Scene Unit at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation ("BCI") processed the crime scene. He found reddish stains—which later yielded positive results in a presumptive blood test—in the ground level of the house, near the doorway leading to the room between the kitchen and the garage.
{¶ 16} Staley collected a knife that was lying on a living-room chair and a piece of what appeared to be part of a surgical glove that had a reddish stain on it. Other reddish stains were found on pieces of paper inside Margaret's purse, which was on the dining-room table.
{¶ 17} Police found blood spatter on the master-bedroom ceiling and on the dresser near the bed. The sledgehammer and a small piece of plastic on the bed were also collected.
{¶ 18} At the outset of the investigation, Detective Michael Hitchings, the lead investigator, learned that Chelsea had been attacked and that the Schoberts had been keeping Ford from seeing her in the hospital.
{¶ 19} On the evening of April 2, Hitchings questioned Ford. Hitchings told Ford that the Schoberts had been killed. According to Hitchings, Ford reacted to the news with "a blank look." Ford said he was not involved and did not know anything about the murders. But the police collected Ford's Air Jordan shoes, because there appeared to be "some spots" on them. Ford was then taken to the Portage County jail where he was held on a warrant for lying about Chelsea's assault.
1. Jeffrey's Car and Other Evidence Found
{¶ 20} On April 3, Hitchings learned that Ford had provided George Beech, a fellow inmate, with information about the murders, which Beech had passed on to the Portage County Sheriff. As a result of that information, Jeffrey's car was found in Akron. Police officers searched the area around the car and found gloves, a knife, and a knit hat inside the storm drain in front of a home on Fried Street.
{¶ 21} Hitchings spoke to a woman who lived at the house. He learned that her son was Ford's friend. She let them search the house. The police encountered Jamall Vaughn in an upstairs bedroom. Hitchings also found a ceramic watch, later identified as Margaret's, on the bedroom floor.
2. Ford Admits Killing the Schoberts
{¶ 22} On the afternoon of April 3, Hitchings interviewed Ford again. Ford continued to deny involvement in the murders.
Hitchings testified that Ford claimed he walked halfway there with Zachary and someone named Malik but turned around. Hitchings told Ford that the Schoberts' and Chelsea's blood was found on his Air Jordan shoes. Ford claimed that he had loaned his shoes to Zachary and then later got them back. According to Hitchings, Ford then admitted being at the Schoberts "one time and it was for the dad" but said he got upset and left. Hitchings testified that Ford then said he was there for part of it but blamed the murders on Zachary and Malik, because they had the weapons.
{¶ 23} That evening, Hitchings interviewed Vaughn. Following that interview, the police recovered cloth and latex gloves from a sewer drain on City View Avenue.
{¶ 24} On April 4, Hitchings interviewed Ford again. He told Ford that Vaughn had been interviewed and discussed the evidence against Ford. According to Hitchings, Ford stated that it was Vaughn's idea to do a "lick" at the Schoberts and that they walked from Akron to the Schoberts' house. Hitchings testified that Ford blamed Vaughn for the murders at first. However, as the interview continued, Ford said that he was the only one who used the sledgehammer on Jeffrey and Margaret. But he said that Vaughn stabbed Jeffrey in the back. Ford also said that they took Jeffrey's car.
{¶ 25} On the evening of April 5, Ford made a recorded phone call from the Summit County jail to his brother. Hitchings testified that Ford discussed the murders during that call and indicated that he and Vaughn were the only two individuals involved in committing them.
3. Ford's Statements to Heather Greathouse and Other Evidence
{¶ 26} Heather Greathouse lived at her mother's home in Akron with her brother, her boyfriend, and Ford. At trial, Heather testified that on the night before the murders, Ford told her he was going to "hit a lick," which she said meant to break into a house and rob it. The next day, she found a pair of bloody pants on the floor and told her boyfriend to burn them. She testified that Ford brought back two rings and some money. Heather's aunt threw one of the rings in a dumpster at the Family Dollar store. The police later...
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