State v. Reynolds

• Decision Date: 14 January 1998
• Docket Number: No. 96-1956,96-1956
• Citation: 687 N.E.2d 1358,80 Ohio St.3d 670
• Parties: The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. REYNOLDS, Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 670

80 Ohio St.3d 670

687 N.E.2d 1358

The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. REYNOLDS, Appellant.

No. 96-1956.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Sept. 23, 1997.

Decided Jan. 14, 1998.

Maureen O'Connor, Summit County Prosecuting Attorney, and Philip D. Bogdanoff, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.

Burton & Merlitti, and Lawrence J. Whitney, Akron; and Renee W. Green, Akron, for appellant.

PFEIFER, Justice.

In this appeal, Reynolds advances nineteen propositions of law. For the reasons that follow, we reject all his propositions of law and affirm each conviction and the death sentence.

Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

In his first proposition of law, Reynolds contends that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because his lead attorney was appointed to represent him only two weeks prior to trial. Sup.R. 20 (formerly C.P.Sup.R. 65) provides that two attorneys, certified pursuant to the rule, must be appointed to represent indigent persons charged with a capital crime. One attorney is designated lead counsel and the other is designated co-counsel. The Committee on the Appointment of Counsel for Indigent Defendants in Capital Cases certifies attorneys as either lead or co-counsel, based on training and experience. One of the attorneys appointed to an indigent capital defendant must be certified as lead counsel.

Attorneys George Keith and George Pappas were appointed to represent Reynolds. After pretrial motion hearings, but before the trial began, the trial court discovered that neither attorney was certified as lead counsel. Keith moved to withdraw from the case and requested that an attorney certified as lead counsel be appointed. The trial court appointed Kerry O'Brien, a lead-counsel certified attorney. Voir dire began two and a half weeks later.

Reynolds contends he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because it is unreasonable to expect counsel to prepare for a capital trial in two weeks. The record reflects that the trial court questioned O'Brien extensively concerning his ability to prepare for trial in the short period of time available to him. O'Brien stated that he could be adequately prepared. The court also asked Reynolds and Pappas whether they were comfortable with the timetable. Reynolds and Pappas expressed their agreement with the new arrangement.

O'Brien prepared for the trial by reviewing materials that had been prepared by Pappas and Keith. Pappas remained on the case and provided continuity of representation to Reynolds. The trial court indicated, by journal entry, that new counsel would be granted time to file additional motions and to request a delay if necessary.

At oral argument, Reynolds's counsel invited this court to adopt a per se rule that appointed counsel cannot be required to begin a capital trial within such a short period of time. We decline the invitation. Instead, we examine counsel's performance under the standard set forth in Strickland v. Washington (1984), 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674. In order to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, Reynolds must show that counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that prejudice arose from counsel's performance. See Strickland at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d at 693; State v. Bradley (1989), 42 Ohio St.3d 136, 538 N.E.2d 373, paragraphs two and three of the syllabus.

Reynolds has not demonstrated that he was prejudiced by lead counsel's belated appointment. We also find no evidence in the record that O'Brien was hampered by his late appointment. O'Brien, separately or together with Pappas, filed motions in addition to those filed by Keith and Pappas, questioned jurors during voir dire, cross-examined the state's witnesses in the trial phase, conducted direct examination in the penalty phase, and gave closing arguments in both phases. We conclude that Reynolds was not prejudiced by the appointment of O'Brien two weeks prior to trial, and accordingly reject the first proposition of law.

Pretrial Suppression Issues

In his second proposition of law, Reynolds argues that the evidence obtained from his bedroom should have been suppressed because his father did not have authority to consent to a search. Lawrence Reynolds, Sr. gave permission to police officers to enter his home. Once inside, the officers established that Reynolds, Sr. owned the home and that Reynolds had not paid rent in the past four months. They also determined that Reynolds and Reynolds, Sr. had no agreement about whether Reynolds's bedroom was off limits and that Reynolds did not have any locked compartments in his bedroom. Detective Michael Gay obtained verbal and written consent to search the house and Reynolds's bedroom from Reynolds, Sr. Reynolds, Sr. also provided a taped statement of consent after the search had been completed.

While the Fourth Amendment prohibits warrantless searches, there are exceptions to this general rule. For instance, searches may be conducted when the owner of the property or a person with common authority over the property voluntarily consents to a search. United States v. Matlock (1974), 415 U.S. 164, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242; State v. Sneed (1992), 63 Ohio St.3d 3, 7, 584 N.E.2d 1160, 1165. The state has the burden of establishing that Reynolds's father had the required common authority to consent to a search. Illinois v. Rodriguez (1990), 497 U.S. 177, 181, 110 S.Ct. 2793, 2797, 111 L.Ed.2d 148, 156.

Parents may consent to a search of premises owned by them. See State v. McCarthy (1971), 26 Ohio St.2d 87, 92, 55 O.O.2d 161, 164, 269 N.E.2d 424, 427; State v. Carder (1966), 9 Ohio St.2d 1, 10, 38 O.O.2d 1, 6, 222 N.E.2d 620, 627. Reynolds, Sr. owned the house that was searched and there was no agreement between him and Reynolds concerning the privacy of Reynolds's bedroom. See United States v. Evans (C.A.7, 1994), 27 F.3d 1219, 1230; United States v. Roark (C.A.6, 1994), 36 F.3d 14, 17; State v. Chapman (1994), 97 Ohio App.3d 687, 691-692, 647 N.E.2d 504, 507; State v. Gavin (1977), 51 Ohio App.2d 49, 53, 5 O.O.3d 168, 170, 365 N.E.2d 1263, 1265. Reynolds had not been paying rent, which would have given him a claim that he had a proprietary interest in his bedroom. For these reasons, we conclude that the investigating officers received constitutionally adequate consent from Reynolds, Sr. We reject Reynolds's second proposition of law.

In his third proposition of law, Reynolds challenges the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress statements. One particular statement that Reynolds moved to suppress was ruled admissible though never introduced at trial. Pursuant to Crim.R. 52(A), a court should disregard any error "which does not affect substantial rights." If any error existed in denying the motion to suppress the statement, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Reynolds's third proposition of law is rejected.

Voir Dire Issues

Reynolds asserts in his fourth proposition of law that the trial court erred when it overruled his motion to prohibit the use of peremptory challenges to exclude jurors who expressed concerns about capital punishment. In State v. Esparza (1988), 39 Ohio St.3d 8, 13, 529 N.E.2d 192, 198, we held that the use of peremptory challenges against prospective jurors opposed to the death penalty was not improper. Prosecutors can exercise peremptory challenges for any reason, without inquiry, and without a court's control, except that jurors cannot be excluded on the basis of race or gender. State v. Seiber, 56 Ohio St.3d 4, 13, 564 N.E.2d 408, 419; J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994), 511 U.S. 127, 114 S.Ct. 1419, 128 L.Ed.2d 89. Thus, it was not error for the trial court to allow the challenged peremptory challenges. The fourth proposition of law is rejected.

In his fifth proposition of law, Reynolds argues that the jury panel was tainted because the trial court erred by delaying an excusal for cause. Prospective juror John Vanhyning was a part-time police officer for the city of Rittman and had been involved in law enforcement for forty years. Defense counsel moved to exclude Vanhyning for cause based on his answers during individual voir dire. The trial court "noted" the objection, but allowed the prospective juror to proceed into general voir dire.

During general voir dire, Vanhyning disclosed that he knew many of the state's witnesses, such as the coroner, Bureau of Criminal Investigation investigators, and police officers. Vanhyning knew the county prosecutor personally and had previously worked with Michael Carroll, one of the assistant prosecutors in this case. Vanhyning also indicated that he had always found "the gentleman that I knew," presumably Detective Michael Gay (one of the state's witnesses), to be truthful. After these comments, the court called the prospective juror and counsel to sidebar where the court and counsel further questioned Vanhyning. The trial court then, sua sponte, excused Vanhyning for cause.

As Vanhyning was excused for cause and did not sit on Reynolds's jury, the only issue is whether Vanhyning's comments during general voir dire tainted the remaining jurors. Vanhyning's comments about Gay's truthfulness were potentially prejudicial. However, these remarks were tempered by the prosecutor's response that the other jurors did not know the detective and would have to evaluate his testimony based on what he said in court. Vanhyning also commented that his experience indicated that prosecutor Carroll was efficient. This comment was also tempered by the prosecutor, who replied that what happened in the past was in the past and this case would have to be decided based on evidence presented in this courtroom. The trial court instructed the jury on what evidence could properly be considered, and further instructed that they would have to decide the case for themselves. No evidence in the record suggests that the jury that was seated in this case was...