State v. Franklin
| Decision Date | 16 October 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 1998-2061.,1998-2061. |
| Citation | 2002 Ohio 5304,776 N.E.2d 26,97 Ohio St.3d 1 |
| Parties | The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. FRANKLIN, Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
Mathias H. Heck, Jr., Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney, and Carley J. Ingram, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
David H. Bodiker, State Public Defender, Pam Prude-Smithers and Diane M. Menashe, Assistant State Public Defenders, and Joseph E. Wilhelm, Appellate Supervisor, for appellant.
{¶ 1} Appellant, Antonio Sanchez Franklin, appeals his convictions and accompanying death sentences for the aggravated murders of Ophelia Franklin, Ivory Franklin, Sr., and Anthony Franklin.
{¶ 2} At 1:53 a.m. on April 18, 1997, the Dayton Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at 39 Riegel Street, where appellant lived with his grandmother, Ophelia Franklin, his grandfather, Ivory Franklin, Sr., and his uncle, Anthony Franklin. Upon entering the house, firefighters found three bodies. Ophelia Franklin was found lying on the floor with blood on her head. A bloody baseball bat lay next to her. The body of Ivory Franklin was found upstairs. When firefighters carried his body outside, their gear was covered with blood. Once the fire was under control, firefighters then observed the charred body of Anthony Franklin in the center room of the first floor.
{¶ 3} An autopsy revealed that Ophelia Franklin had sustained a gunshot wound to her forehead and a bullet track through her brain. Forensic pathologist Dr. David Smith observed at least eight blunt force injuries to her head, consistent with the use of a baseball bat. He concluded that either the gunshot wound or the blunt force injuries would have killed her.
{¶ 4} Dr. Smith further found that Ivory Franklin had been subjected to at least five hard blows to the back of the head, which fractured his skull. However, the examination suggested that the weapon used to cause these injuries was something other than a baseball bat. Anthony Franklin also sustained multiple fractures to his skull, which were consistent with the use of a baseball bat. Dr. Smith concluded that both Ivory Franklin and Anthony Franklin died of "blunt impact injuries of the head and inhalation of products of combustion."
{¶ 5} Later in the morning, appellant was involved in an automobile accident while driving Ivory Franklin's car in Tennessee. Appellant abandoned the vehicle. Then, around 6:00 p.m., after receiving reports of a suspicious person in a Nashville, Tennessee neighborhood, two police officers found and questioned appellant. Appellant gave officers a false name and claimed to be a juvenile. He carried no identification, and his answers to questions were suspicious. An officer then asked appellant about the bulge in his jacket pouch. When appellant began to reach into that pouch, the officer told him to stop and tried to frisk him. However, appellant ran from the officers. Upon catching up to him, the officers searched appellant, found a loaded gun and jewelry, and arrested appellant for carrying a weapon and resisting a stop. The gun later was determined to be Ivory's, and a firearms examiner concluded that it had fired the bullet recovered from Ophelia Franklin's skull. Blood was found on the shoes, pants, and jacket that appellant was wearing when he was arrested.
{¶ 6} Two days later, when appellant was in police custody in a Tennessee jail, a Dayton police detective spoke with him. After receiving Miranda warnings, appellant signed a waiver and said to the detective, "You figured out I did it." When asked why he committed the crimes, appellant replied, "They weren't treating me right." He said that he and his family "were always bumpin' heads" and that they had threatened to kick him out of the house. He also said that he had killed his relatives because Anthony Franklin had raped him when appellant was fourteen years old.
{¶ 7} Appellant was charged in a seventeen-count indictment with four death specifications,1 inter alia, for the aggravated murders of Ophelia Franklin, Ivory Franklin, Sr., and Anthony Franklin. Appellant entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and claimed to be incompetent to stand trial. The trial court rejected this claim, and the case proceeded to trial.
{¶ 8} At trial, the judge granted defense motions to dismiss two of the counts against appellant.2 The jury found appellant guilty of all remaining counts and specifications. After the penalty phase, the jury recommended death sentences on each aggravated murder count. The trial court sentenced appellant to death on each aggravated murder count and to a total of 91 years in prison on the noncapital counts in the indictment.
{¶ 9} The cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right. Appellant has set forth seventeen propositions of law for our consideration, which we have reviewed thoroughly. We have considered the death penalty for appropriateness and proportionality, and we have independently weighed the aggravating circumstances against the evidence presented in mitigation. For the reasons that follow, we affirm appellant's convictions and the sentences imposed.
{¶ 10} In his ninth proposition of law, appellant contends that police conducted an improper search and seizure and asks this court to reverse the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress items seized in connection with the search. These include the gun used to shoot Ophelia Franklin and the jewelry stolen from her. He also seeks suppression of all post-arrest statements that he made as a result.
{¶ 11} We reject this argument. It is well settled that a law enforcement official is permitted to stop and briefly detain a person for investigative purposes if the officer has a reasonable suspicion supported by articulable facts that "criminal activity may be afoot," even if the officer lacks probable cause. Terry v. Ohio (1968), 392 U.S. 1, 30, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889. Thus, police officers are generally permitted to approach an individual, even if they have no basis to conclude that he is suspicious, and may ask questions of and request identification from the individual "as long as the police do not convey a message that compliance with their requests is required." Florida v. Bostick (1991), 501 U.S. 429, 435, 111 S.Ct. 2382, 115 L.Ed.2d 389.
{¶ 12} In this case, the police were justified in making a Terry stop. Not until the officer ordered appellant to submit to a frisk was there any demonstration of authority that would constitute a stop. Instead of submitting to the officers' order to stop and put his hands behind his back, which began a reasonable search for Fourth Amendment purposes, appellant fled. Based on these facts, the trial court correctly concluded that this stop and the subsequent arrest were justified. The officers had been alerted that illegal activity might be taking place at the location where appellant was found. Appellant could not provide identification and was evasive in his responses to the officers. Additionally, the bulging pouch of appellant's jacket suggested a weapon and caused the officers to fear for their safety. These facts created more than enough reasonable suspicion to warrant the Terry stop.
{¶ 13} In Pennsylvania v. Mimms (1977), 434 U.S. 106, 98 S.Ct. 330, 54 L.Ed.2d 331, an officer observed a bulge in the jacket of a motorist whom he had stopped. When the officer frisked him, he found a handgun. The frisk was held permissible since it was reasonable for the officer to discern that the motorist was armed and could pose a threat. Similarly, in the case sub judice, the officers could have reasonably concluded that there was a risk to their safety. Under the totality of the circumstances, the stop and frisk and the subsequent arrest were justified, and the evidence obtained as a result was admissible. Appellant's ninth proposition of law is overruled. Trial Issues
{¶ 14} In his third proposition of law, appellant contends that the trial court sua sponte should have reconsidered the issue of whether he was competent to stand trial. This argument lacks merit.
{¶ 15} The question of whether to hold a competency hearing after the commencement of trial is left to the court's discretion. State v. Rahman (1986), 23 Ohio St.3d 146, 156, 23 OBR 315, 492 N.E.2d 401. A defendant has a constitutional right to such a hearing only when there is sufficient "indicia of incompetence" to alert the court that an inquiry is needed to ensure a fair trial. State v. Berry (1995), 72 Ohio St.3d 354, 359, 650 N.E.2d 433. Considerations in this regard might include supplemental medical reports, specific references by defense counsel to irrational behavior, and the defendant's demeanor during trial. See State v. Chapin (1981), 67 Ohio St.2d 437, 21 O.O.3d 273, 424 N.E.2d 317, paragraph one of the syllabus.
{¶ 16} Appellant points to psychologist Dr. Eugene Cherry's finding that appellant was a paranoid schizophrenic as an indication of his incompetency. However, this evidence did not need to be reconsidered because similar testimony had been presented at appellant's pretrial competency hearing. Furthermore, appellant argues that his erratic behavior at trial, which included belching loudly and interrupting the judge, further demonstrated his incompetency. Although these actions did indeed constitute strange behavior, they illustrated a pattern of rudeness rather than incompetency to stand trial. Therefore, the evidence upon which appellant relies does not shed any new light on appellant's ability to understand the proceedings, to interact with his counsel, or to assist in his...
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