State v. Hodge
| Decision Date | 19 May 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. 2019 CA 00035,2019 CA 00035 |
| Citation | 2020 Ohio 3002,154 N.E.3d 671 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Joseph HODGE, Defendant-Appellant |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
R. KYLE WITT, Fairfield County Prosecutor, BY: CHRISTOPHER REAMER, 239 West Main Street, Suite 101, Lancaster, OH 43130, For Plaintiff-Appellee.
JAMES ANZELMO, 446 Howland Drive, Gahanna, OH 43230, For Defendant-Appellant.
JUDGES: Hon. W. Scott Gwin, P.J., Hon. John W. Wise, J., Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, J.
{¶1} Defendant-appellant Joseph D. Hodge ["Hodge"] appeals his convictions and sentences after a jury trial in the Fairfield County Court of Common Pleas.
{¶2} On December 30, 2017, C.D. made a report to the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office that one of his two Texas Bragg LEO trailers had been stolen. The stolen trailer had wooden sides to enable the trailer to be used to haul material. The two trailers had sequential license plates that differed only in the last numeric position. The trailer had been stolen from C.D.'s property on Carroll Northern Road, Fairfield County. The Carroll Northern property is agricultural and only used by C.D. to store his equipment as he lives a distance away.
{¶3} C.D. believed the trailer had been taken on December 30, 2017 as he had been checking the rural farmland property frequently due to prior trespasses. On December 30, 2017, C.D. checked the property and observed tracks in the fresh snow leading back into his field toward where his equipment was stored. C.D. believe someone had entered the property without his consent as he observed fresh snow on the roadway that appeared to have come off tires leaving his property. C.D. told the police that G. J. and W. H. might be possible suspects in the theft of his trailer.
{¶4} Previously, on October 7, 2017, R.F. III, whose parents own a nearby home to C.D.'s property, had observed the lights of a vehicle on C.D.'s property. R.F. observed a truck drive around C.D.'s gate and entered the property. R.F. thought it was strange for the truck to enter CD's property and went outside to observe what was happening. R.F. ended up waving a man over who identified himself to R.F. as "Joe." The man had a goatee and drove a grayish Chevrolet Silverado.
{¶5} On January 27, 2018, R.S. reported to the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office that an Oliver tractor had been stolen from a property adjoining his property on Leonard Road, Baltimore, Fairfield County, Ohio. R.S. is a retired equipment mechanic who also engaged in farming activities. R.S. functioned as a caretaker of the property and equipment of his neighbor A.H. who resided in Kansas. A.H. had given R.S. permission and the right to use the equipment on the property. A.H. had a tractor that R.S. frequently used in mowing and brush hogging. The tractor was an older Oliver tractor. The original wheels had been replaced with yellow John Deere wheels instead of the typical white colored Oliver brand wheel. The Oliver tractor was used and stored with a red bucket/loader attached to it. R.S. valued the Oliver tractor and bucket as a package to be worth $2,000 to $3,000.
{¶6} While out walking on the morning of January 27, 2018, R.S., walked down the road past A.H.'s property and observed fresh mud tracked onto the road. R.S. checked the garage and discovered the Oliver tractor with John Deere wheels was not inside the garage where it was stored and that the red bucket/loader was laying unattached in a nearby yard.
{¶7} Deputy Michael J. Schell, Jr., of the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office responded to 900 Leonard Road, Baltimore, address regarding the stolen Oliver tractor on January 27, 2018. Deputy Schell arrived on scene around 4:28 p.m. In checking the scene, Schell took a report and noted that a red bucket loader was lying on the ground near the garage from which the Oliver tractor had been taken. After R.S. had made his police report on January 27, 2018, the red bucket loader was also taken from the property.
{¶8} Deputy Justin Mann of the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office worked third shift from 11:00 p.m. January 27 into January 28, 2018. Deputy Mann has knowledge of a neighborhood that included Knob Hill Drive, in Pataskala, Licking County, Ohio. Deputy Mann also knew Hodge prior to January 28, 2018 from seeing Hodge in the Knob Hill Drive area. Deputy Mann also knew Hodge to drive a 2500 series Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck from seeing it in the Knob Hill Drive area. Hodge's girlfriend, Jessica Eblin, owned the pickup truck. 2T. at 2681 . Several days prior to his shift on January 27 - 28, 2018, Mann had observed a unique older model Oliver tractor with yellow John Deere tires at 25 Knob Hill Drive. Eblin owned the residence at that location. Id. The tractor was inside a flatbed trailer that had wooden sides attached.
{¶9} Prior to the start of Deputy Mann's shift at 11:00 p.m. on January 27, 2018, Deputy Mann spoke to Deputy Schell. Deputy Schell gave Deputy Mann details about a missing Oliver tractor with John Deere yellow wheels. Deputy Mann immediately thought of the Oliver tractor in Eblin's driveway. Later Deputy Mann got permission to return to 25 Knob Hill Drive with another deputy from the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office.
{¶10} Upon his arrival, Deputy Mann observed that the Chevrolet Silverado that Hodge was known to drive had a red bucket/loader lying in the bed of the truck. Deputy Mann had not previously seen a red bucket/loader at Eblin's residence. Deputy Mann was also familiar with Hodge's girlfriend who owned 25 Knob Hill, Jessica Eblin. Mann later called for the assistance of the Licking County Sheriff's Office to respond to 25 Knob Hill regarding the suspected stolen Oliver tractor.
{¶11} Deputy Jeremy Wolverton of the Licking County Sheriff's Office responded along with others to Eblin and Hodge's residence at 25 Knob Hill. Upon arrival, Deputy Wolverton observed an Oliver tractor sitting on the Texas Bragg LEO trailer in the driveway of the residence. Also in the driveway was the Chevrolet Silverado registered to Jessica Eblin bearing plate HHT 2124. The Silverado contained a red bucket/loader. After knocking on the door, Wolverton contacted Eblin and Hodge. As Wolverton spoke with Hodge and Eblin regarding the stolen status of the Oliver tractor and the trailer, Hodge contended he had purchase documents for the equipment. During the time Wolverton worked to impound all the suspected stolen property, Hodge never produced the claimed purchase documents. Eblin did not explain how the property came to be in her driveway. 2T. at 272. Eblin told the police that "until she could figure out what was going on," she was not granting the police permission to look at the trailer. 2T. at 281. She stated that she had just woken up and wanted to consult with her attorney. Id. Deputy Wolverton testified that Eblin's request was not unreasonable under the circumstances. 2T. at 282. Hodge claimed he had purchased the Oliver tractor and Texas Bragg LEO trailer from a man named, "Mark Downing" in what Hodge referred to as a "third party deal." 2T. at 284, 285.
{¶12} On January 29, 2018, Detective Kelli Stats, of the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office was assigned to follow up on the initial theft reports taken from victims C.D. and R.S. On that same day, Deputy Stats received a telephone call from Hodge regarding the status of the property taken from the 25 Knob Hill address. Hodge told Deputy Stats that he had obtained the Oliver tractor and Texas Bragg LEO trailer from an auction house and had bills of sale. The call between Deputy Stats and Hodge was recorded and played for the jury as State's Exhibit 10. During the call, Hodge told Deputy Stats that he had received the trailer on January 13, 2018 and the Oliver tractor on January 26, 2018. Hodge reported receiving the Oliver tractor in the late evening hours of January 26 into January 27, 2018 by meeting the seller at the intersection of State Route 158 and Leonard Road. Hodge informed Stats during the phone call that the seller/auction representative was a "Mark Downing" but that Downing's phone number was no longer working and the Craigslist postings for the sales could no longer be found. Hodge informed Stats he was not good with computers but would have his girlfriend, Jessica Eblin, email copies of the bills of sale for the Oliver tractor and Texas Bragg LEO trailer to the Deputy. Deputy Stats noted that Hodge's last self-reported contact with "Mark Downing" was in the late evening of January 26, 2018 at a location directly beside where the Oliver tractor was stolen.
{¶13} Deputy Stats later received bills of sale from Jessica Eblin by email. Hodge later hand delivered copies of the same bills of sale to Deputy Stats when she met him to collect a handwriting exemplar. Deputy Stats noted that the bill of sale for the Oliver tractor (State's Exhibit 5A) included a sale date of January 13, 2018; however, Hodge verbally told her during the telephone conversation on January 29, 2018, that he purchased the Oliver tractor on January 26, 2018. Similarly, the bill of sale for the Texas Bragg LEO trailer contained a sale date of January 26, 2018; however, Hodge had previously told Deputy Stats that he obtained the trailer January 13, 2018. (State's Exhibit 5B). Deputy Stats would later collect a handwriting exemplar (State's Exhibit 6) from Hodge that was sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for comparison to the purported bills of sale supplied by Hodge. Deputy Stats performed checks of both law enforcement databases and typical social media accounts but never found any match of a "Mark Downing" in or around the Fairfield County area. The phone number provided by Hodge for Downing was not a working number.
{¶14} In February 2018, J.D. was a retired school teacher that co-owned a pasture/agricultural property with his sister D.D. on Snoke Hill Road, Lancaster, Ohio. In...
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...at the scene so she told them she didn't want appellant to be charged. See, State v. Hodge, 5th Dist. No. 2019 CA 00035, 2020-Ohio-3002, 154 N.E.3d 671, ¶ 75. {¶38} We find appellee presented sufficient evidence to establish the elements of intimidation beyond a reasonable doubt. Construing......