State v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 03 August 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. 2014CA00189.,2014CA00189. |
| Citation | 41 N.E.3d 104 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff–Appellee v. Mikal Jamari JOHNSON, Defendant–Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
John D. Ferrero, Prosecuting Attorney by Kathleen O. Tatarsky, Canton, OH, for Plaintiff–Appellee.
Aaron Kovalchik, Canton, OH, for Defendant–Appellant.
W. SCOTT GWIN, P.J., PATRICIA A. DELANEY, J., and CRAIG R. BALDWIN, J.
GWIN
, P.J.
{¶ 1} Appellant, Mikal Jamari Johnson [“Johnson”] appeals his convictions and sentences after a trial to a three-judge panel in the Stark County Court of Common Pleas on one count of Aggravated Murder, R.C. 2903.01(B)
with a Death Penalty Specification, R.C. 2929.04(A)(7) and with Firearm Specification, RC 2941.145, one count of Aggravated Robbery, R.C. 2911.01(A)(1) and or (A)(3) with a Firearm Specification R.C. 2941.145, one count of Aggravated Burglary, R.C. 2911.11(A)(1) and/or (A)(2) with a Firearm Specification, R.C. 2941.145 and two counts of Aggravated Burglary R.C. 2911.11(A)(2).
{¶ 2} The charges in the case at bar arose from the home invasion aggravated burglary of Kim Eller on November 22, 2013, the home invasion aggravated burglary of Eugene Render on November 18, 2013, and the subsequent home invasion robbery and killing of Eugene Render on November 22, 2013. Johnson waived his right to a jury trial and the case went to trial before a three-judge panel selected pursuant to R.C. 2945.06
.
{¶ 3} David Render testified that Eugene Render was his father. David Render stated that his father called him on November 18, 2013 to let him know that someone had tried to break in to his residence. The Canton police were called and Officer Michael Roberts responded and learned from Mr. Render that he heard a loud crash and someone kicking in his door. He yelled out and the intruders ran away.
{¶ 4} Roberts looked around the home and looked at the door. The doorframe had been splintered and pieces were lying on the floor. He made a police report.
{¶ 5} David Render stated that he did see damage to his father's home where the breezeway door was broken. David Render wanted his father to come stay with him. However, Mr. Render refused instead boarding up his door with two by fours.
{¶ 6} John Burns testified that his address was 266 Bender St. NE., Navarre, Ohio Lot Number 8. Burns testified that he was home the morning of November 22, 2013 when he observed a white vehicle that contained two black men. Burns testified that he saw the two black men walking around the trailer park and then saw them later run past his house.
{¶ 7} Kim Eller testified that she lives at 266 Bender St. NE. Lot Number 5, Navarre, Ohio. On November 22, 2013, two black men entered her trailer. Eller stated that one man held a gun to her and the other took her computer. Eller stated that of the two individuals that entered her home it was the short one that held the gun to her head while the taller skinnier individual went through the home.
{¶ 8} Sgt. Chris Hummel of the Navarre Police Department testified that he was on duty November 22, 2013 and he responded to a burglary call at 266 Bender Street. Sgt. Hummel testified that he observed the door had been broken in for that residence. However, Sergeant Hummel stated that his recollection of his report was that Eller told him that the skinnier individual held the gun to her head.
{¶ 9} Deanna Fisk testified that she was the girlfriend of Japheth Thomas and was familiar with Johnson. Fisk testified that on November 22, 2013 she went with Thomas, Johnson and an unknown white male to a trailer park in Navarre to “hit a lick.”1 Fisk remembered seeing a BB gun and a pistol in the car while they were on their way to the trailer park. Fisk stated that once they arrived Thomas and Johnson got out of the vehicle with the BB gun and the pistol and within five minutes returned with a broken down laptop.
{¶ 10} David Render testified that he and his wife went to his father's residence on November 22, 2013 after his father had repeatedly not answered phone calls. Upon arriving, he observed the outside door was busted up, glass was knocked out of the screen door, and a door handle was bent. David Render then went into his father's residence where he found a camouflage gun laying on the floor and then ultimately found his father dead on the floor. David Render also observed a Glock on the kitchen table that had its slide closed and the clip was still in it.
{¶ 11} Three Canton City police patrol cars were dispatched to the home of Mr. Render on Montrose Avenue; Officer Joseph Bays was one of them. Bays went into the house and saw a rifle lying on the breezeway floor, a 9–millimeter Glock pistol on the kitchen table and a body lying on the kitchen floor. One of the medics had cleared the Glock. Officer Bays was instructed by Sgt. George to stand by a hat or a bandanna that was found north of the residence until someone came to collect it.
{¶ 12} Detective Victor George and agents from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation were called. There was definite evidence that Mr. Render as well as the home invaders fired a weapon.
{¶ 13} The body of Mr. Render was removed by the medics and taken to the hospital. He was pronounced dead at 6:55 pm. Dr. P.S.S. Murthy, the Stark County Coroner, performed an autopsy the next day. In an external examination, Murthy noted two gunshot wounds
; one in the right chest and one in the right lower quadrant of his abdomen. The gunshot wound to the chest had an oval appearance and entered the body at a right angle. It perforated the lower lobe of the right lung causing an accumulation of blood and was fatal.
{¶ 14} The gunshot wound
to the abdomen had a different appearance; it scraped the body before it entered. It appeared that Mr. Render was in a crouched position when that bullet entered his body. It entered the right lobe of the liver causing massive damage; it pulpified the liver and was fatal. Dr. Murthy found no stippling or soot meaning that the gun was not shot at close range.
{¶ 15} Dr. Murthy extracted two large caliber hollow point bullets from Mr. Render's body. They were turned over to Larry Hootman, a crime scene agent with the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
{¶ 16} Michael Roberts, a firearms expert with BCI examined the bullet recovered from the body of Mr. Render and the cartridges from the scene. Roberts determined they were Remington brand .40–caliber hollow point bullets meant to cause more damage than full metal jacket bullets. They were all fired from the same firearm. The firearm was not recovered at the scene. However, Roberts opined that they were fired from an operable Smith and Wesson Sigma Series pistol.
{¶ 17} Jennifer LaCava, a forensic scientist with BCI, tested the blue bandana and hat recovered outside at the scene for DNA. Johnson's DNA was not conclusively found on either of the items. However, the DNA of Japheth Thomas (JT), Johnson's codefendant, was found on the hat and the bandana.
{¶ 18} The blood found on the door of Mr. Render's home was also tested for DNA. It was consistent with the blood of Japheth Thomas.
{¶ 19} On Friday, November 22, 2013 about 9:00 pm, then Detective Robert Redleski responded to a “shooting casualty” call from Timken Mercy Medical Center. There, Redleski met Japheth Thomas (JT). JT told him he was shot in the left arm at Chips Apartments and gave him two names and phone numbers who could verify the account. Redleski went back to the police station to follow up and learned that JT was a suspect in the theft of a white Nissan crossover.
{¶ 20} Detective George was alerted to the “shooting casualty” of JT and knew that Mr. Render had fired some shots. He went out looking for JT and the United States Marshal's Task Force (Task Force) found him driving the stolen Nissan on Monday, November 25, 2013 with another male in the car. JT was arrested. A laptop computer was found in the Nissan. The laptop computer found in the white Nissan when JT was arrested was identified by Eller as the stolen computer.
{¶ 21} The police returned to JT's residence where they conducted a search and brought several persons down to police headquarters for interviews.
{¶ 22} The interviews conducted by George led to an additional suspect in the killing of Mr. Render—the appellant, Mikal Johnson.
{¶ 23} Johnson was picked up by the Task Force and brought to the Police Department for questioning. Johnson confessed to the burglary and robbery of Mr. Render. He also confessed to an aggravated robbery that occurred in the morning of November 22, 2013 in Navarre, Ohio. He also confessed to the break-in at the Render home on November 18, 2013.
{¶ 24} The interview was played for the three-judge panel. Johnson first denied that he participated in the home invasion at the Render house on November 22, 2014. However, after some prompting by Detective George, he admitted to his involvement, told George how the door was broken, how JT was shot and what occurred after the crimes. However, Johnson denied he was the shooter. He did not say JT did the shooting; only that he was not the shooter. He also identified Deanna Fisk and Derrick Wilson as persons he saw the day of the killing at JT's home.
JOHNSON TELLS WITNESSES, “I KILLED SOMEBODY. ” “I THINK I KILLED HIM. ”
{¶ 25} Deanna Fisk, age 15, was the girlfriend of JT and staying at his house in November 2013. She often hung out with JT and Johnson. Indeed, she went with them to “hit a lick” in Navarre on November 22, 2013 in the stolen white Nissan. A laptop computer was stolen. After the Navarre burglary, they all returned to the home of JT and were “chilling.”
{¶ 26} Fisk heard JT and Johnson discussing hitting another lick. They talked about getting guns including a “sniper....
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