State v. Paskins
| Decision Date | 25 October 2022 |
| Docket Number | 2021 CA 00032 |
| Citation | 199 N.E.3d 680 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Tyler PASKINS, Defendant-Appellant |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
CHRISTOPHER REAMER, 239 West Main Street, Suite 101, Lancaster, OH 43130, For Plaintiff-Appellee.
BRIAN A. SMITH, 123 South Miller Road, Suite 250, Fairlawn, OH 44333, For Defendant-Appellant.
Wise, Earle, P.J. {¶ 1} Defendant-Appellant Tyler Paskins appeals the September 8, 2021 judgment of conviction and sentence of the Fairfield County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas. Plaintiff-Appellee is the state of Ohio.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Gabriel Lamp is Injured
{¶ 2} In February 2021, Gabriel Lamp was incarcerated at the Fairfield County Jail on a domestic violence charge involving himself and his girlfriend Jocelyn Matson. Matson was also a friend of appellant herein and regularly took phone calls placed by appellant from the jail. These calls were monitored and recorded. During one such recorded call, a discussion took place between the two about punishing Lamp for what he did to Matson. Appellant agreed to assault Lamp if he was placed in the same pod as Lamp. Sometime after that phone call, Lamp was moved into appellant's pod.
{¶ 3} The pod the men were housed in permitted one hour of recreational time per cell and at all other times inmates remained on lockdown. On March 6, 2021, in a call with Matson, it was suggested that Lamp should be beat up. Appellant stated "it's going to happen." Appellant or his cell mate removed a black putty substance from the window of their cell and placed it in the door jamb of their cell to prevent it from locking properly once their recreational hour was complete. Later, while Lamp was out on his recreational hour, he was seen on surveillance cameras stopping in front of appellant's cell and engaging in conversation. Lamp was next seen entering appellant's cell. Observing this, correction officers stationed in the command center activated the intercom in appellant's cell and heard what sounded like a fight.
{¶ 4} Deputy Hunter White and other staff responded to the situation. Upon their arrival, Lamp was backing out of appellant's cell. Appellant and his cellmate Stephen Dye were observed standing in the cell sweating and breathing heavily. White grabbed Lamp by the back of his shirt, extracted him from the situation, and put him against the wall outside appellant's cell. Surveillance camera video shows Lamp raising his right arm onto the wall but not his left. Lamp had a bloody nose and immediately told White his arm was hurt. The deputies therefore returned Lamp to his cell without restraining him in anyway. Once at his cell, Lamp walked in on his own power. This was all captured on surveillance video.
{¶ 5} Minutes after he was returned to his cell, Lamp requested medical attention for his arm injury. He was taken to the jail medical office where he saw nurse Erica Thompson. Thompson took a medical history wherein appellant stated he had been in a fight and believed his arm was broken. After a mobile x-ray appeared to confirm Lamp's concern, he was transported to Fairfield Medical Center by Deputy White for treatment. Lamp was seen by Kristin White, a medical assistant, who took Lamp's medical history and treated his injury. Lamp advised he had been jumped by two inmates at the county jail and was suffering pain in his left forearm. Lamp was diagnosed with an ulna fracture
.
{¶ 6} During transport to and from Fairfield Medical Center, Lamp told Deputy White he entered Dye and appellant's cell because he thought he and appellant were friends. But once Lamp entered the cell, he "started getting hit from all directions."
{¶ 7} Upon return to the Fairfield County Jail, Lamp was housed by himself in a medical pod. The day after having his arm broken, Lamp called his mother Alison Lamp from the medical pod. Lamp was upset, crying and complaining of pain. He told his mother appellant had caused his injury.
{¶ 8} On May 23, 2021, Deputy David Weiland transported Lamp to a follow-up medical appointment. During transport, Lamp told Weiland appellant invited him into his cell and caused his injury.
Indictment and Pre-Trial Proceedings
{¶ 9} On April 1, 2021, the Fairfield County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging appellant with one count of felonious assault in violation of R.C. 2903.11(A)(1) and (D)(1)(a), a felony of the second degree. Appellant pled not guilty to the charge.
{¶ 10} On July 15, 2021, the prosecuting attorney and a victim advocate met with Lamp at the jail for trial preparation. During the meeting Lamp suggested his testimony would differ significantly from his previous reports to jail staff, medical personnel, and his mother. Lamp now alleged that after extracting him from appellant's cell, jail staff threw him into his cell and were responsible for his injury.
{¶ 11} On August 2, 2021, after the state put defense counsel on notice of its intent to offer certain statements under a theory of forfeiture by wrongdoing, appellant filed a motion in limine to prevent the state from using Lamp's out of court statements under the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception to the hearsay rule.
{¶ 12} On August 3, 2021, the state filed a motion related to anticipated evidentiary matters. The state requested the trial court permit out of court statements by Lamp to medical professionals be admitted under the medical diagnosis and treatment exception to the hearsay rule, and statements to his mother to be admitted as an excited utterance. The state additionally requested that if Lamp refused to testify, the trial court deem him unavailable and allow prior statements by Lamp to jail personnel admitted upon a showing that Lamp's unavailability was due in part by appellant's wrongdoing pursuant to Evid.R. 804(B)(6).
{¶ 13} The matter proceeded to a jury trial beginning August 5, 2021. Immediately before trial a hearing was held on the state's motion. The trial court heard arguments from the state and counsel for appellant. The state argued statements by Lamp to the jail nurse and Fairfield Medical Center staff regarding his injury were admissible as statements made for purpose of medical diagnosis and treatment. It further argued that during a phone call to his mother the day after his injury, Lamp was still under the stress of the event and therefore his statement regarding who was responsible for his injury was admissable as an excited utterance.
{¶ 14} An in-chambers hearing was also held with Lamp regarding his testimony. The trial court determined Lamp could properly invoke his Fifth Amendments rights and Lamp did not, therefore, testify at trial.
{¶ 15} During trial, the trial court ultimately permitted two statements made by Lamp to two different medical professionals stating he had been injured by fellow inmates in a fight as statements made for purposes of medical diagnosis and treatment, one statement to his mother the day after the assault stating appellant was responsible for his injury as an excited utterance, and two statements to jail personnel stating appellant was responsible for his injury under the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception to the hearsay rule.
{¶ 16} During his opening statement, trial counsel for appellant admitted Lamp suffered serious physical harm, but denied appellant was the cause. Instead, appellant's theory was that Deputy White accidently caused Lamp's injury when he extracted Lamp from appellant's cell and "body slammed" him against the wall outside appellant's cell.
{¶ 17} The state elicited the above outlined facts through the testimony of Deputies White and Weiland, Corrections Officer Stephenson, Fairfield Medical Center Physician's Assistant Kristen White, Fairfield County Jail LPN Erica Thompson, Alison Lamp, and Sergeant John Warner.
{¶ 18} Appellant took the stand in his own defense. He admitted knowing his cell door was unsecured and to inviting Lamp into his cell. He alleged Lamp agreed to fight over the issue of the domestic violence against Matson and admitted that they did briefly engage in a physical altercation. He admitted to hitting Lamp in the face once or twice with a closed fist and bloodying Lamp's nose as a result. He alleged his cellmate never got involved. He further admitted he could only see the responding deputy's contact with Lamp as he pulled Lamp out of the cell and did not know what was occurring outside his cell after Lamp was removed.
{¶ 19} After hearing all the evidence and deliberating, the jury found appellant guilty as charged. He was subsequently sentenced to three to four and a half years incarceration.
{¶ 20} Appellant timely filed an appeal and the matter is now before this court for consideration. He raises six assignments of error as follow:
I
{¶ 21} "APPELLANTS CONVICTION FOR FELONIOUS ASSAULT WAS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE."
II
{¶ 22} "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING HEARSAY STATEMENTS FROM GABRIEL LAMP UNDER THE "FORFEITURE BY WRONGDOING" HEARSAY EXCEPTION SET FORTH IN EVID.R. 804(B)(6), IN VIOLATION OF APPELLANTS RIGHT TO CONFRONT WITNESSES UNDER THE SIXTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE I, SECTION 10 OF THE OHIO CONSTITUTION."
III
{¶ 23} "THE TRIAL COURT'S FAILURE TO GIVE A JURY INSTRUCTION ON THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE OF ASSAULT CONSTITUTED PLAIN ERROR."
IV
{¶ 24} "THE FAILURE OF APPELLANT'S TRIAL COUNSEL TO REQUEST A JURY INSTRUCTION ON THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE OF ASSAULT CONSTITUTED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL, IN VIOLATION OF APPELLANT'S RIGHT TO COUNSEL UNDER THE SIXTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE I, SECTION 10 OF THE OHIO CONSTITUTION."
V
{¶ 25} "THE TRIAL COURT'S ERRORS IN ADMITTING OR EXCLUDING
EVIDENCE CONSTITUTED CUMULATIVE ERROR AND DEPRIVED APPELLANT OF HIS RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL, IN VIOLATION OF APPELLAN...
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