State v. Mahalli

• Decision Date: 10 March 2016
• Docket Number: No. 103183,103183
• Parties: STATE OF OHIO PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE v. SAID MAHALLI DEFENDANT-APPELLANT
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

2016 Ohio 940

STATE OF OHIO PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE
v.
SAID MAHALLI DEFENDANT-APPELLANT

No. 103183

Court of Appeals of Ohio EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA

March 10, 2016

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED

Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas
Case No. CR-14-585604-A

BEFORE: Jones, A.J., Keough, J., and E.T. Gallagher, J.

Page 2

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Aaron T. Baker
38109 Euclid Avenue
Willoughby, Ohio 44094

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Timothy J. McGinty
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor

BY: Janna R. Steinruck
Assistant County Prosecutor
The Justice Center, 9th Floor
1200 Ontario Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113

Page 3

LARRY A. JONES, SR., A.J.:

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Said Mahalli, appeals his conviction for resisting arrest. We affirm.

{¶2} In 2014, Mahalli was charged with assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing official business. The matter proceeded to a jury trial at which the following pertinent evidence was presented.

{¶3} On May 14, 2014, Officer Steven Crone of the Cleveland Heights Police Department pulled over Mahalli's son, Netanel, for speeding on Euclid Heights Boulevard. During the traffic stop Netanel called his father to let him know he would be late for their meeting and he might need a jump start for his van.

{¶4} Mahalli drove to his son's location. Mahalli was traveling westbound and crossed over into the eastbound lane. He stopped in front of Netanel's van so that his and his son's vehicle hoods were facing each other. Mahalli got out of his vehicle and approached Officer Crone, questioning why the officer had pulled over his son.

{¶5} Officer Crone told Mahalli to get back in his car and move it because he was blocking traffic on the two lane road and creating a hazard. Mahalli got back in his car, put it in reverse gear, and did a 360 degree turn into traffic. The officer testified that when Mahalli did the 360 degree turn, he turned his car into westbound traffic, which caused other cars to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting him. According to Officer Crone, he had to step away from Netanel's van and into the flow of traffic to stop traffic so Mahalli would not cause an accident. At this point, he thought Mahalli was going to

Page 4

drive away, but instead Mahalli pulled his vehicle into an adjacent driveway.

{¶6} Officer Crone gave Netanel his citation and told him he was free to leave, but warned Netanel not to get out of his car. The officer then walked over to where Mahalli had parked his car because Mahalli had already exited his car and was waving his arms in the air and yelling at the officer.

{¶7} Officer Crone directed Mahalli to get back in his car several times but Mahalli responded that he did not have to comply. Mahalli approached Officer Crone with his keys in one hand and an unidentifiable object in the other hand (the object was later identified as a cell phone).

{¶8} Mahalli continued to approach Officer Crone, despite the officer's attempts to keep a "buffer" between himself and Mahalli and repeated the command for Mahalli to get back in his car. Officer Crone radioed for help, drew his gun, and again told Mahalli to get back in his car. Out of the corner of his eye, Officer Crone saw movement and realized that Netanel had gotten out of his car and was approaching the officer. Netanel testified that he got out of his car because he saw the officer draw his weapon and Netanel wanted to try and diffuse the situation. Around the same time as Netanel started to walk towards Officer Crone, a fellow officer arrived on scene. Officer Crone reholstered his weapon.

{¶9} Officer Crone reached out and took hold of Mahalli's arm, but, according to the officer, Mahalli pulled away and punched him in the arm. Officer Crone tried again to grab Mahalli, but the man pulled away and shoved the officer. It took three police

Page 5

officers to handcuff and arrest Mahalli.

{¶10} Netanel testified that Officer Crone was the one acting aggressive towards his father, and insisted that his father was only acting "slightly obnoxious" towards the officer. Netanel denied that his father ever punched or pushed the officer.

{¶11} The jury acquitted Mahalli of assault on a peace officer and obstructing official business but convicted him of resisting arrest. The trial court sentenced Mahalli to five days of jail, with credit for three days served, and court costs.

{¶12} Mahalli filed a motion for leave to file a delayed appeal, which this court granted. Mahalli raises one assignment of error for our review:

Because the arrest of Appellant was objectively unlawful, the trial court erred by failing to grant a judgment of acquittal, pursuant to Crim.R. 29(A), on the charge of resisting arrest, and thereafter entering a judgment of conviction of that offense which was not supported by sufficient evidence, in derogation of Appellant's right to due process of law, as protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

{¶13} In his sole assignment of error, Mahalli challenges the sufficiency of the evidence as it relates to his conviction for resisting arrest.

{¶14} A Crim.R. 29(A) motion for acquittal tests the sufficiency of the evidence. State v. Hill, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 98366, 2013-Ohio-578, ¶ 13. Crim.R. 29 mandates that the trial court issue a judgment of acquittal where the state's evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction for an offense. State v. Taylor, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 100315, 2014-Ohio-3134, ¶ 21. Accordingly, we review a trial court's denial of a defendant's motion for acquittal using the same standard we apply when reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim. Id. at ¶ 21-23, citing Cleveland v. Pate, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No.

Page 6

99321,...