State v. Spaulding
| Decision Date | 12 September 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 28526,28526 |
| Parties | STATE of Ohio, Appellee v. Dawud SPAULDING, Appellant |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
RACHEL TROUTMAN, Supervising Attorney, for Appellant.
SHERRI BEVAN WALSH, Prosecuting Attorney, and HEAVEN DiMARTINO, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Appellee.
DECISION AND JOURNAL ENTRY
{¶ 1} Appellant, Dawud Spaulding, appeals from the denial of his petition for post-conviction relief and motion for testing and related discovery in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas. This Court affirms.
{¶ 2} In the early morning of December 15, 2011, Mr. Spaulding shot and paralyzed Patrick Griffin while he was leaving a house on Grant Street. Merely hours later, Mr. Spaulding shot and killed both Erica Singleton and Ernie Thomas outside of the same house. Mr. Spaulding was arrested the following day. After a jury trial, Mr. Spaulding was convicted of two counts of aggravated murder with course of conduct death specifications, attempted murder, and a multitude of other charges. After a mitigation hearing, the jury recommended a sentence of death, which was accepted by the trial court. The court sentenced Mr. Spaulding to death along with 32 and one-half years in prison. The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed Mr. Spaulding's convictions and sentence. State v. Spaulding , 151 Ohio St.3d 378, 2016-Ohio-8126, ¶ 230, 89 N.E.3d 554. Mr. Spaulding filed a petition for post-conviction relief in the trial court citing ten grounds for relief, an amended petition containing an additional 25 grounds for relief, and a separate motion for testing and related discovery, which were denied by the trial court.
{¶ 3} Mr. Spaulding now appeals from the trial court's denial of his petition for post-conviction relief and motion for testing and related discovery and raises four assignments of error for this Court's review.
{¶ 4} For ease of analysis, we reorganize Mr. Spaulding's assignments of error.
{¶ 5} "A post[-]conviction proceeding is a collateral civil attack on a criminal conviction." State v. Phillips , 9th Dist. Summit No. 20692, 2002 WL 274637, at *2, 2002 Ohio App. LEXIS 788, *5 (Feb. 27, 2002), citing State v. Calhoun , 86 Ohio St.3d 279, 281 (1999). R.C. 2953.21(A)(1)(a) permits anyone convicted of a criminal offense "who claims that there was such a denial or infringement of the person's rights as to render the judgment void or voidable under the Ohio Constitution or the Constitution of the United States" to "file a petition in the court that imposed sentence, stating the grounds for relief relied upon, and asking the court to vacate or set aside the judgment or sentence or to grant other appropriate relief." "The petitioner may file a supporting affidavit and other documentary evidence in support of the claim for relief." R.C. 2953.21(A)(1)(a).
{¶ 6} "The post[-]conviction relief process is not itself a constitutional right" and petitioners receive no more rights than those granted by the statute. State v. Wesson , 9th Dist. Summit No. 25874, 2012-Ohio-4495, 2012 WL 4480109, ¶ 7, citing Calhoun at 281, 714 N.E.2d 905. A petitioner seeking post-conviction relief is not automatically entitled to a hearing. Phillips at *6, citing Calhoun at 282, 714 N.E.2d 905. "The trial court serves a gatekeeping function in post[-]conviction relief cases—it determines whether the petitioner will even receive a hearing." Wesson at ¶ 9, citing State v. Gondor , 112 Ohio St.3d 377, 2006-Ohio-6679, 860 N.E.2d 77, ¶ 51.
{¶ 7} In reviewing a petition for post-conviction relief, "a trial court should give due deference to affidavits sworn to under oath and filed in support of the petition, but may, in the sound exercise of discretion, judge the credibility of the affidavits in determining whether to accept the affidavits as true statements of fact." Calhoun at 284, 714 N.E.2d 905. When assessing the credibility of supporting affidavits in post-conviction relief proceedings, the trial court shall consider all relevant factors, including:
(1) whether the judge reviewing the post[-]conviction relief petition also presided at the trial, (2) whether multiple affidavits contain nearly identical language, or otherwise appear to have been drafted by the same person, (3) whether the affidavits contain or rely on hearsay, (4) whether the affiants are relatives of the petitioner, or otherwise interested in the success of the petitioner's efforts, and (5) whether the affidavits contradict evidence proffered by the defense at trial.
Id. at 285, 714 N.E.2d 905. A trial court properly denies a petition for post-conviction relief without holding an evidentiary hearing where the petition, the supporting affidavits, the documentary evidence, the files, and the records do not demonstrate that the petitioner set forth sufficient operative facts to establish substantive grounds for relief. Id. at 291, 714 N.E.2d 905. "If the court does not find grounds for granting relief, it shall make and file findings of fact and conclusions of law and shall enter judgment denying relief on the petition." Former R.C. 2953.21(G).
{¶ 8} "Generally, this Court reviews a trial court's denial of a post-conviction relief petition for an abuse of discretion." State v. Childs , 9th Dist. Summit No. 25448, 2011-Ohio-913, 2011 WL 721311, ¶ 9. Our review of a denial of a petition for post-conviction relief without a hearing is two-fold: First, we "review the trial court's decision to determine whether its findings are supported by competent and credible evidence" and; second, if the findings are properly supported, we "review[ ] the trial court's decision in regard to its gatekeeping function for an abuse of discretion." Wesson at ¶ 11, citing Gondor at ¶ 52. An abuse of discretion "implies that the court's attitude is unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable." Blakemore v. Blakemore , 5 Ohio St.3d 217, 219, 450 N.E.2d 1140 (1983). When applying an abuse of discretion standard, a reviewing court is precluded from simply substituting its own judgment for that of the trial court. Pons v. Ohio State Med. Bd. , 66 Ohio St.3d 619, 621, 614 N.E.2d 748 (1993).
{¶ 9} In his first assignment of error, Mr. Spaulding argues that the trial court erred by applying the doctrine of res judicata in denying grounds for relief 1, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13, 16-30, 32, and 33 in his petition for post-conviction relief when the grounds were supported by credible evidence dehors the record. As Mr. Spaulding has failed to comply with App.R. 16(A)(7) in this assignment of error, we decline to reach the merits of this argument and therefore overrule it. We will nonetheless address the trial court's application of res judicata where applicable in discussing Mr. Spaulding's third assignment of error.
{¶ 10} A petition for post-conviction relief may be properly dismissed without a hearing on the basis of res judicata. State v. Griffin , 9th Dist. Lorain No. 14CA010680, 2016-Ohio-2988, 2016 WL 2855532, ¶ 14. Pursuant to the doctrine of res judicata:
[A] final judgment of conviction bars a convicted defendant who was represented by counsel from raising and litigating in any proceeding except an appeal from that judgment, any defense or any claimed lack of due process that was raised or could have been raised by the defendant at the trial, which resulted in that judgment of conviction, or on an appeal from that judgment.
State v. Perry , 10 Ohio St.2d 175, 226 N.E.2d 104 (1967), paragraph nine of the syllabus. To avoid the preclusive effect of res judicata, post-conviction relief claims must be "based on evidence outside of the original record that existed during direct appellate proceedings."
State v. Bulls , 9th Dist. Summit No. 27713, 2015-Ohio-5094, 2015 WL 8347458, ¶ 9.
{¶ 11} Nevertheless, "[p]resenting evidence outside the record does not automatically defeat the doctrine of res judicata." (Emphasis deleted.) State v. Stallings , 9th Dist. Summit No. 19620, 2000 WL 422423, at *1, 2000 Ohio App. LEXIS 1696, *4-5 (Apr. 19, 2000). The evidence " ‘must meet some threshold standard of cogency; otherwise it would be too easy to defeat the holding of Perry by simply attaching as exhibits evidence which is only marginally significant and does not advance the petitioner's claim[.]’ " Id. at *5, quoting State v. Lawson , 103 Ohio App.3d 307, 315, 659 N.E.2d 362 (12th Dist.1995), quoting State v. Coleman , 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-900811, 1993 WL 74756, at *7, 1993 Ohio App. LEXIS 1485, *21 (Mar. 17, 1993). The evidence dehors the record must also "demonstrate that the claims advanced in the petition could not have been fairly determined on direct appeal based on the original trial court record without resorting to evidence outside the record." (Emphasis deleted.) Stallings at *5. Accordingly, Mr. Spaulding bears the burden to produce evidence dehors the record that would render the judgment void or voidable and also show that he could not have appealed the claim based upon information contained in the original record. See State v. Nemchik , 9th Dist. Lorain No. CA98CA007279, 2000 WL 254908, *1, 2000 Ohio App. LEXIS 836, *4 (Mar. 8, 2000).
{¶ 12} Although Mr. Spaulding attached many lengthy exhibits as evidence dehors the record to his petition for post-conviction relief, he fails to identify or argue in his merit brief under this particular assignment of error exactly how the trial court erred by applying the doctrine of res judicata and denying grounds 1, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13, 16-30, 32, and 33 of his petition. Instead, Mr. Spaulding simply states that his petition contained "specific factual allegations" supported by "credible evidence dehors the record" and then summarily concludes that "the trial court improperly applied res judicata to dismiss his grounds for relief * * * violat[ing] his due process...
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