State v. Rojas
| Decision Date | 01 July 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-374,91-374 |
| Citation | 592 N.E.2d 1376,64 Ohio St.3d 131 |
| Court | Ohio Supreme Court |
| Parties | The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. ROJAS, Appellant. |
On May 14, 1987, Martin J. Rojas, defendant-appellant, forcibly entered the apartment of Rebecca ("Becky") Scott, stabbed her in the back and raped her. Before he left, Rojas washed his clothes, spread paint stripping gel, an accelerant, throughout her apartment, opened a gas valve to the kitchen stove, lit several candles, and stole $25 from Scott's purse.
In 1986, Rojas moved from Denver, Colorado to Cincinnati where he enrolled in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Later that year, Rojas attended the Voice of Calvary Church and met Scott. They became friends. Scott devoted herself to weaning Rojas from drugs and alcohol; however, Rojas apparently wanted Scott as his girlfriend. Because Rojas had struck Scott several times, they went together on May 13 to the home of Edna White, a lay minister and speaker for the church. Becky exhibited bruises on her neck and arm. White, Becky and Rojas prayed together for Rojas to reform. On May 14, Becky told Rojas she did not want to see him again.
According to his later confessions, Rojas decided to kill Scott after she rejected him on May 14. That afternoon, he purchased a filleting knife, telling the clerk that it was a gift for a bachelor party. He then called Scott, who refused to meet him at her apartment building. But she did agree to meet him at a nearby restaurant at 6:30 p.m. Rojas then went to Scott's apartment and hid outside in the hallway. Around 6:15 p.m., when Scott left to go to their meeting, Rojas confronted her, pulled her by the hair, chased her into the apartment, and stabbed her in the back.
After stabbing Scott, Rojas removed her clothes and his clothes and raped her twice. In two confessions, Rojas admitted that Scott was still alive when he had intercourse, and the coroner estimated she lived from one to three hours after the knife wounds were inflicted. According to Rojas, Becky told him, as she was bleeding to death, that she loved him and forgave him, that God also loved him and forgave him for what he had done.
According to his confessions, Rojas stayed in Scott's apartment for approximately five and one-half hours. He stole $25 from her purse and washed and dried his clothes to remove the blood. From a gallon container, he spread a highly flammable gel paint-and-varnish remover throughout the apartment so that a resulting fire would destroy the crime scene. He disconnected the kitchen stove to create a natural gas leak and he lit several candles around the apartment. He left at midnight. When he arrived home, he hid the clothes he had been wearing.
On May 15, Rojas called Edna White. He told her he had killed Scott. "She's with Jesus," he said. He also said he intended to kill himself by jumping off a bridge. Instead, Rojas cashed his paycheck and took a 12:50 p.m. bus to Denver, Colorado. After Rojas' telephone call, White called a copy center, where Scott worked (located on the ground floor in Scott's apartment building). White asked that someone check on Scott.
Daniel Krieger, a copy center employee, climbed an outside fire escape to Scott's third floor apartment. Once inside, Krieger discovered Scott's body cold and naked on her bedroom floor. Krieger summoned co-worker Daniel Engle, and another co-worker called the police. An opened kitchen window had apparently prevented the gas from reaching an explosive level. Krieger, Engle and the police turned the gas off, extinguished the candles, and opened other windows. No fire or explosion occurred.
Police found a highly flammable pink gel, containing methanol, acetone, methylene chloride, and toluene, spread throughout the apartment. Police detected acetone and toluene on a pair of Rojas' shoes recovered from where Rojas lived. Police found candles on Scott's kitchen stove, in the dining room, and on the bedroom floor near Scott's feet.
The physical evidence corroborated the confessions made by Rojas. In the kitchen, police found the murder knife and the sales receipt for the knife. The receipt contained Rojas' fingerprint. Police found Rojas' fingerprints or palm prints elsewhere in the apartment, and they found the red gift box for the knife just outside Scott's apartment where Rojas had discarded it. Police also found Rojas' fingerprints on the gift box and on the tissue paper inside. The store clerk who sold Rojas the knife identified Rojas, the knife, the sales receipt, and the gift box.
The coroner confirmed that Scott died from two stab wounds, a six-inch wound to the back and a five-inch chest wound. The stab wounds were not immediately fatal, and Scott could have lived from one to three hours. With timely medical intervention, she might have survived the wounds. Scott had blood type A-positive, consistent with blood found on the murder knife, on a rug in the kitchen wastebasket, on her nearby clothes, on a bed sheet, and on Rojas' clothing found at his residence. Chemical and microscopic examination revealed evidence of semen in Scott's vagina, and a swab of her nipples revealed evidence of saliva.
On May 18, the day after Rojas was arrested in Denver, Detective Sergeant Joe Russell secured a fifty-three-minute videotaped confession. Rojas had been advised of his Miranda rights. Also on May 18, Cheviot, Ohio Police Chief Voss advised Rojas of his rights and secured a tape-recorded confession. Over defense objection, the trial court admitted Rojas' videotaped and tape-recorded confessions.
In both statements, Rojas claimed to have been drinking heavily in a bar and taking amphetamines just before the murder. Rojas mentioned a voice in his head that told him to kill Scott. Rojas asserted that a romantic tie existed between them. He had been seen frequently at her apartment. Several shirts found in the apartment supposedly belonged to Rojas.
Rojas was charged with seven offenses, including murder with prior calculation and design (Count I), aggravated murder with three death specifications alleging murder in the course of aggravated burglary, rape, and aggravated robbery (Count II), aggravated burglary (Count III), rape (Count IV), aggravated robbery with a knife (Count V), aggravated robbery causing serious injury (Count VI), and aggravated arson (Count VII). Although Rojas pled not guilty by reason of insanity, he presented no testimony disputing mental responsibility. A three-judge panel found him guilty as charged.
At the outset of the sentencing hearing, Sheriff's Lieutenant George McCamey reported that Rojas had attempted to escape and had repeatedly threatened to escape. As a precaution, the court ordered Rojas shackled.
Rojas asserted he wanted no mitigation evidence presented beyond his own unsworn statement. He explained:
Despite Rojas' request, his attorneys presented expert testimony from psychiatrists and psychologists. A psychologist, two Ph.D. clinical psychologists and two psychiatrists testified for the defense; a clinical psychologist testified for the state. The experts confirmed that Rojas suffered from disorders resulting from substance abuse and most agreed that he had a borderline personality disorder. They disagreed on the extent of this condition, on Rojas' mental abilities, and the extent to which he was malingering.
Dr. Robert W. Noelker, a clinical psychologist, found Rojas to be multihandicapped, retarded with a performance IQ of fifty-seven, and suffering from major personality disorders and probable organic brain damage. Noelker found Rojas to have been actively psychotic at times, suffering from delusions and hallucinations, especially religious preoccupations. Noelker found Rojas competent to stand trial, but substantially impaired at the time of the murder. Rojas' behavior disorders were a chronic and severe mental disease or defect of longstanding duration and multiple causation. Noelker found no evidence of malingering.
Dr. David Helm, a psychiatrist who examined Rojas before trial, found it difficult to conclude whether Rojas suffered from mental illness. Helm found that Rojas was not competent to stand trial, but Helm did not dispute subsequent findings of competency since he suspected that Rojas was not honest in the interview. Helm never formed an opinion as to Rojas' ability to distinguish right from wrong or his frame of mind at the time of the offense.
Dr. Michael F. Hartings, a clinical psychologist, found Rojas to be a marginally functioning handicapped individual, who was significantly impaired in his psychological, social and occupational functioning. Rojas refused to take an intelligence test from Hartings; however, Hartings concluded that Rojas was not retarded. Hartings estimated Rojas' IQ to be eighty to ninety, and Hartings regarded the estimate of sixty as definitely too low. When tested, Rojas intentionally gave incorrect answers. While Rojas may have had prior psychotic episodes, Rojas was not psychotic at the time of the offenses or when Hartings saw him. According to Hartings, Rojas suffered from behavior disorders but not from a substantial mental disease or defect. Rojas exhibited a high level of activity requiring concentrated and directed efforts, suffered no loss of cognition or control over his behavior, knew his actions were wrong and could have conformed his behavior to the law. Rojas had little empathy for others and little...
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