State v. Ian Davis

• Decision Date: 20 March 1996
• Docket Number: 94CA005989,96-LW-0990
• Parties: STATE OF OHIO, Appellee v. IAN DAVIS, Appellant C.A.
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

STATE OF OHIO, Appellee v. IAN DAVIS, Appellant

No. 94CA005989.

96-LW-0990 (9th)

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Ninth District Lorain

March 20, 1996

APPEAL FROM JUDGMENTS ENTERED IN THE COMMON PLEAS COURT COUNTY OF LORAIN, OHIO CASE NOS. 91 CR 040924 and 93 CR 043666.

This Cause was heard upon the record in the trial court. Each error assigned has been reviewed and the following disposition is made:

DECISION

QUILLIN Presiding Judge

Ian Davis appeals from his convictions for aggravated murder R.C. 2903.01(A) and felonious assault, R.C. 2903.11 (A)(f). We affirm.

On August 8, 1991, the body of Marsha Blakely was found in an alley behind the Westgate Plaza in Lorain. Blakely appeared to be the victim of several different types Of assaults. She had numerous cuts and bruises on her body, her throat had been slashed, and she had been run over by a car. The police investigation stalled until a reward was offered. At this time, William Avery, Jr. came forward and made a statement to police that implicated Davis, among others, in the death of Blakely. Davis was indicted for the assault and murder of Blakely.

After a jury trial, Davis was convicted of felonious assault and aggravated murder and sentenced. Davis now appeals, asserting two assignments of error.

Assignment of Error I

"The evidence submitted at trial does not support the judgments of conviction."

Davis claims his convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence and were based upon insufficient evidence. Davis asserts that no direct evidence links him to the murder of Marsha Blakely and that Avery's testimony is unreliable.

To determine whether a jury has rendered a conviction against the manifest weight of the evidence,

"an appellate court must review the entire record, weigh the evidence and all reasonable inferences, consider the credibility of witnesses and determine whether, in resolving conflicts in the evidence, the trier of fact clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice that the conviction must be reversed and a new trial ordered."

State v. Otten (1986), 33 Ohio App.3d 339,340.

When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction an appellate court must examine the evidence admitted at trial, in a light most favorable to the prosecution, and determine whether such evidence, if believed, would convince the average mind of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v Jenks (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 259, paragraph two of the syllabus.

Davis was convicted of aggravated murder in violation of R.C 2903.01(A), which provides that "No person shall purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the death of another." "Purposely" is defined in R.C. 2901.22(A):

"A person acts purposely when it is his specific intention to cause a certain result, or, when the gist of the offense is a prohibition against conduct of a certain nature, regardless of what the offender intends to accomplish thereby, it is his specific intention to engage in conduct of that nature."

Davis states that the evidence against him regarding the murder is entirely circumstantial. The Supreme Court of Ohio, however, has noted that "[c]ircumstantial evidence and direct evidence inherently possess the same probative value." State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d at 272. Thus, "proof of guilt may be made by circumstantial evidence as well as by real evidence and direct or testimonial evidence, or any combination of these three classes of evidence." Id.

Avery gave the following testimony at trial. Davis and some of his associates from New York sold drugs in the Lain housing projects. Avery often purchased crack cocaine from these drug dealers. On one occasion Avery was fronted some crack by Al Monday, the leader of the New York group. Avery was to sell the crack and then pay Monday. Avery, however, got behind in paying Monday back. Avery then offered to "beat somebody, up" to pay off his $3,000 to $4,000 drug debt to Monday.

On August 7, 1991, Monday attempted to take advantage of Avery's services. Avery accompanied Monday to the apartment of Floyd Epps, where Blakely was staying. Davis and three other men were waiting outside the apartment when Monday and Avery arrived. Once all six men were inside the apartment, Monday asked Avery "to beat Marsha up." Avery refused because he knew her too well. As a result, Davis and the other men began beating Blakely themselves. During the assault, a man known as Shakeme repeatedly asked Blakely, "Where's my shit at?" Avery assumed that he was referring to money or drugs.

Blakely tried to defend herself, and in the process she hit one of the men, Lenworth Edwards, in the face. Edwards grabbed his nose, which was bleeding, and stepped away, but the other three kept on beating her until she was unconscious. Davis then grabbed Blakely by the arm and dragged her, face down, to a car in the parking lot. Edwards and two others got into the car with Blakely and Davis, while Avery and Monday got into a second car. The two cars were driven to an alley behind Westgate Plaza, where a man known as Justice was waiting in a third car. Blakely was dragged out of the car. Justice began swinging a shiny object at Blakely. Fearing for his life, Avery ran away.

Davis claims Avery's testimony is unreliable because of the circumstances surrounding his decision to testify about the assault and murder of Blakely. A review of the record reveals that after a reward was offered, Avery's father originally approached the police with information concerning Blakely's murder. The police, however, told him that they were looking for an eyewitness to the crime. Avery then came forward as a witness. Avery made a statement to the police, implicating Davis and his associates in the assault and murder of Blakely. The police arrested Lenworth Edwards, who was later indicted for assault and aggravated murder.

On the day of Edward's trial, Avery stated that he was not going to testify unless he received $10,000. The prosecutor would not agree to pay Avery any more money, so Avery refused to testify. The trial court held Avery in contempt, and ordered that he be incarcerated in the county jail until he agreed to testify. Avery later returned to the courtroom, testified that he had lied to the police and recanted his testimony. Avery claimed that he made everything up in order to collect the reward money. As a result, the trial court granted Edwards' motion for a mistrial.

At Edward's second trial, Avery took the witness stand and explained that his original statements which implicated Edwards were in fact true. He further explained that he had perjured himself during the first trial because he had been threatened by Edwards while in the county jail. Avery proceeded to testify, describing in detail how Edwards had participated in the assault and murder of Blakely. Edwards was convicted on both changes. We affirmed the convictions in State v. Edwards (Dec. 16, 1992), Lorain App. No. 92 CA 005345 & 92CA005346. The police used the information provided by Avery to identify and arrest Davis.

Although Avery did change...