State v. Johnson, 2009 Ohio 2568 (Ohio App. 6/5/2009), No. C-080156.
| Decision Date | 05 June 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. C-080156.,No. C-080158. |
| Parties | State of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Fred Johnson, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Joseph T. Deters, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and Philip R. Cummings, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Michaela Stagnaro, for Defendant-Appellant.
{¶1} In the case numbered B-0607511, defendant-appellant Fred Johnson was indicted for seven offenses in connection with the beating death of his live-in girlfriend's seven-year-old son, Milton. Count one charged Johnson with aggravated murder in violation of 2903.01(C), with a death-penalty specification. Count two charged him with felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(1). Counts three and four charged him with felony murder with the predicate offenses of child endangering in violation of R.C. 2903.02 and felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.02. Counts five through seven charged Johnson with child endangering in violation of R.C. 2929.22(A), 2919.22(B)(1), and 2919.22(B)(3).
{¶2} At trial, the state presented evidence that Milton's mother, Latina Stallworth, and his younger sister, Toryonna, had moved from Sandusky, Ohio, to Cincinnati in March 2003 to escape an abusive relationship with Toryonna's father, Taron Banks. While staying at a local shelter, Stallworth met Johnson. She and Toryonna moved into an apartment with Johnson around May 2003. In February 2004, Stallworth obtained custody of Milton from his paternal grandparents, and Milton came to live with her, Toryonna, and Johnson.
{¶3} Stallworth testified that Johnson would periodically abuse her and Milton. In June 2004, Stallworth, who was pregnant with Johnson's child, left with Milton and Toryonna for a YMCA shelter after she had a physical altercation with Johnson. On the intake sheet for the shelter, Stallworth wrote that her abuser was Taron Banks. She admitted during the trial that she had lied about who was abusing her. She testified that Johnson had choked her to the floor. When Milton intervened to help her, Johnson had slapped Milton to the floor. She stayed at the shelter for a week. She and the children missed Johnson, so she took the children and went back to their apartment. That fall, she enrolled Milton in kindergarten. She and Johnson fought periodically during this time. She testified that Johnson had hit her and given her a black eye. Shortly thereafter, she gave birth to a daughter.
{¶4} In September 2005, she and Johnson were having financial difficulties. Johnson blamed her and the children for the situation. They had just moved to an apartment on Freeman Avenue when they had a heated argument. She left with the children and went to a shelter on September 7, 2005. She admitted that she again lied on the intake form about the identity of her abuser. She listed her abuser as Taron Johnson, instead of Johnson, because she loved Johnson and did not want to get him in trouble. She testified that Johnson had choked, punched, kicked, and pushed her. She testified that she and the children went back to living with Johnson on September 20, 2005, because they missed him.
{¶5} Stallworth testified that, after returning from the shelter, she was constantly fighting with Johnson. One of the arguments was caused by Johnson whipping Milton. On November 7, 2005, she called Women Helping Women for advice on the situation. Linda Iverson, a former manager of 241 Kids, testified that her agency had received a referral from Women Helping Women on November 7, 2005, alleging that one Milton Baker was being abused by "Fred Johnson."
{¶6} On November 31, 2005, Stallworth left Johnson again for a shelter in Northern Kentucky. She took all three children with her. She testified that she and Johnson had been arguing and fighting. Johnson had pulled her hair and pushed her to the ground. While staying at the shelter, she decided to homeschool Milton instead of enrolling him in public school in Kentucky. She filled out the necessary paperwork for Milton. Toward the end of December, Johnson starting visiting them on the weekends and apologized for everything, so she and children left the shelter and returned home to Johnson.
{¶7} Teresa Singleton, the YWCA's Abuse Protection Director, testified that the YWCA provided services to Stallworth three times from 2003 to 2005. Stallworth twice identified her abuser as "Taron Banks" and once as "Taron Johnson" on the intake forms. Singleton testified that it was not uncommon for battered women to give information about their abuser that was not completely truthful or to leave the shelter and return to their abuser.
{¶8} Stallworth testified that, after returning from the shelter in late December, she became pregnant with Johnson's son. She had a difficult pregnancy and was placed on partial bed rest. As a result, Johnson, who was working part-time in pest control, took care of the three children and homeschooled Milton. She and Johnson would argue frequently about Milton's school work. Johnson told her that she was babying Milton too much and that Milton would not listen to him because she was always intervening and telling Johnson to leave Milton alone.
{¶9} In June 2006, Stallworth noticed that Milton had belt marks and welts on his body and legs, but Milton would not tell her how he had gotten them. She would then confront Johnson, they would argue, and she would tell him to keep his hands off Milton. She saw marks on Milton three more times after that. When she would question Johnson about the marks, he would call her names and never tell her what had happened to Milton. She thought Johnson was hitting Milton too hard with a belt.
{¶10} She testified that in late July Milton's wrist was swollen. Milton would not tell her what had happened. When she questioned Johnson, he said that they would put some ice on it and that it would be alright. She did not seek medical treatment for Milton's wrist, but treated it herself with ice as Johnson suggested. She testified that she kept asking Milton about his wrist. He finally told her that Johnson had twisted his arm behind his back.
{¶11} Stallworth testified that on August 10, 2006, Johnson was alone with Milton in the master bedroom at their home. Milton was reading a book. The rest of the family was eating and watching a movie in another room. At some point, Stallworth heard a loud boom and stomping. She turned the volume on the television down and went to the bedroom where Milton was reading to Johnson. Johnson was yelling at Milton for mispronouncing the word "family." Johnson said that Milton was acting like "a little bitch" again and pushed him to the floor. Stallworth argued with Johnson over Milton finishing the book. She told Milton that he could come with her, but Milton insisted that he finish reading. So Stallworth left the room and went back to watching the movie.
{¶12} A few minutes later, Stallworth heard Johnson yelling. She turned down the television and heard another boom and thump or stomp. When she returned to the room, Milton was shaking on the floor.
{¶13} Instead of calling for emergency assistance, Johnson told Stallworth that Milton was having a seizure. He carried Milton to the bathtub and turned on the shower. He then got into the shower with Milton and started rubbing his head. Milton started choking, so he turned him on his side and performed the Heimlich maneuver.
{¶14} Later, at Stallworth's urging, Johnson drove Stallworth, Milton, and the two girls 16 miles from their home to St. Luke Hospital in Florence, Kentucky. When they arrived at the hospital in the early morning hours of August 11, Milton was in cardiac arrest. Dr. James Lucas Evans, the emergency-room physician, and his staff were able to resuscitate Milton. When Dr. Evans spoke to Stallworth, she told him that Milton had a seizure in the bathtub and fell. After examining Milton, Dr. Evans told Stallworth that Milton had been severely beaten. Stallworth became very upset, yelling that she had not abused her son.
{¶15} Dr. Evans testified that Milton had numerous bruises and scars on his body, an unhealed wrist fracture, contusions on both sides of his head, and hemorrhages in both retinas. Dr. Evans testified that retinal hemorrhages were a "tell tale sign of severe head injury in children that goes along with non accidental trauma." As a result, he ordered a CAT scan of Milton's head. The scan showed that Milton had a subdural hematoma and swelling of his brain tissue.
{¶16} Milton was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Children's Hospital in Cincinnati. Once there, Dr. Kathi Makaroff, a pediatric physician specializing in child abuse, examined Milton at the request of the physicians in the ICU. Milton was unconscious and attached to a respirator. He had swelling over his skull, bruising above his ears and around his eyes, retinal hemorrhages in both his eyes, and multiple bruises on his body. Milton also had numerous linear and curved marks on his arms, trunk, and legs. His right wrist was also swollen and deformed. The CAT scan that had been done at St. Luke Hospital showed that Milton had bleeding between his scalp and his brain. Dr. Makaroff testified that Milton's brain was very swollen and that part of it had started to herniate into the hole leading to his spinal cord, compressing the areas responsible for his respiration and heartbeat.
{¶17} Milton's severe head...
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