State v. Watson

• Decision Date: 19 June 1991
• Docket Number: No. 89-1079,89-1079
• Citation: 61 Ohio St.3d 1,572 N.E.2d 97
• Parties: The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. WATSON, Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 1

61 Ohio St.3d 1

572 N.E.2d 97

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

No. 89-1079.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted March 6, 1991.

Decided June 19, 1991.

Later that day, Henderson invited Donald Cook and Eugene Singletary to Toney's house. Cook had a Winchester twelve-gauge shotgun which he kept in the trunk of his car because his mother would not allow him to keep it in her home. He also kept a box of shells in the glove compartment of his car. Cook testified that he had intended to return the shotgun for a refund because he was about to enter the Marines.

Cook testified that he and Singletary went into Toney's house where they met Henderson. Watson was also there but they did not know him by name. Henderson and Singletary then went out to Cook's car and returned with the shotgun. Henderson held Cook's shotgun and loaded it with seven shells. Henderson showed Watson the shotgun and asked him "would it be alright?" Cook testified that Watson, who said nothing that evening, nodded his head indicating yes. Cook told Henderson "it was my shotgun and what was he doing with it," and asked Henderson to give it back. Henderson refused to do so but said that he would "have it back" by 8:30. Later that night, Cook drove back to the house in an effort to retrieve the shotgun, but was unsuccessful.

Toney testified for the state. She stated that she was working with Mast at his store, where she was in charge of the money and the lottery machine. June 3 was a Wednesday and the big Ohio lottery drawing was at 7:29 p.m. A substantial sum of money from lottery ticket sales was in the store that evening.

Toney testified that at about 7:30 p.m., just after the lottery drawing, a man came into the store carrying a shotgun and an orange and black gym bag, and announced a robbery. At trial, she identified Watson as the robber. She said that Watson threw the bag at Toney and said to Mast, "tell the bitch to hit the safe." He forced Mast and Toney to put up their hands and get on the floor. He told them to get up, which they did, and then told Mast to lie down again. Mast complied and Toney began putting money into the gym bag. While she was filling the bag, she heard a shotgun blast but did not see anything. She said Watson took the bag from Toney, held the shotgun about one foot from her face, and said, "bitch, I will kill you." He then left the store.

Toney then said to Mast, "he's gone, you can get up now." Seeing blood splattered on the floor and her clothes, she realized that Mast had been killed. Toney began screaming and became hysterical, but managed to call the police and attract bystanders.

When the police arrived, they found Mast's body on the floor, behind the counter. Experts estimated that the robber fired the shotgun, at an angle, less than one foot from Mast's head. The shotgun pellets entered Mast's head in a mass, separating his brain from the skull cavity. They also discovered a live shotgun shell at the scene, indicating that when the robber entered the store, he pumped the shotgun, causing a live shell to eject. Police found Henderson's fingerprint on the live shotgun shell.

According to police testimony, Toney gave the police a description of the robber as five feet, six inches tall, medium complexion, with a full beard, mustache, sideburns, and wearing a white T-shirt and a ball cap. Though she denied it, other evidence indicated that Toney described the killer to the police as six feet tall and in his forties. Toney did not tell police that she knew the robber as Watson, that he was her stepbrother's friend, or that Watson had spent the previous night in her home. She also did not tell police that the robber's orange and black gym bag belonged to her oldest son. Toney testified that she had been afraid that Watson, who knew where she and her two children lived, would kill her. That night, Toney did not go home but went to an ex-boyfriend's home. The next morning Toney went to a hospital because she had been sick during the night. She also asked a friend to call the police. She later identified Watson as the robber to the police.

At trial the state presented two other eyewitnesses to the crime. Marlin Moon, age fifteen, and Willie Prater, age sixteen, were playing video games in the back of the store when a man with a shotgun came into Mast's store. When Moon saw the man with the gun, he poked Prater to get his attention and took off for the back room to hide. Moon testified that he observed the robber for six or seven seconds, and noticed that his hair was braided, and that he had a mustache and a slight beard, and wore a grey sweater or jacket. Prater also testified that the robber had braided hair and some facial hair, but he did not recall what the robber was wearing. Both teenagers said that the robber was not wearing a hat. Prater was going towards the back room where Moon was when he heard the gun go off. They hid in the back room until the robbery was over.

Detectives separately showed Moon and Prater a series of four photographs, and both individually picked out Watson's photograph. At trial, they both identified Watson as the man who robbed Mast's store. Prater's cousin, Charles Singletary, testified that Prater told him that the police had arrested the wrong man, and that Watson did not do it, but Prater denied this conversation at trial.

In defense, Watson's counsel presented four witnesses who testified that Watson was not the man they saw running from Mast's store.

Edward Parker, who lived about two hundred feet from Mast's store, saw his friend Mast around 7:30 that evening. As he left the store, he testified, someone else came in. Walking home, he heard someone yell that Mast had been shot. Parker then saw a man carrying a shotgun and an orange and black gym bag running toward and past him. Parker testified that the man wore a lilac or purple shirt with baggy sleeves and a black stripe across the front, and black shoes. Parker saw the man's face clearly and was positive that Watson is not the man he saw running past him carrying a shotgun and bag. When shown a photo of Henderson before trial, he indicated that the robber looked similar to Henderson. When, later, detectives showed him a series of twelve photographs, Parker was unable to identify either Henderson or Watson--although by that time he had been shown Henderson's photo and had seen Watson at a preliminary hearing and on television.

Simon Brooks testified that he dropped off his daughter at Mast's store around 7:30 p.m. on June 3 and saw a short, dark-complexioned man run out of the store with a pool cue or weapon and a bag. Brooks testified that Watson did not look like the man who ran out of the store, and that he did not believe that Watson was that man. However, a policeman testified that Brooks told him that night that Brooks was in his car and saw no one.

Rodella Jones, another friend of Mast's, also testified for the defense. She stated that she was sitting on a porch at the SOS hall with a clear view of the sidewalk. She heard someone running and saw a man carrying a shotgun and an orange bag run past her. She saw his full face for about seven or eight seconds. She testified that he wore dark pleated slacks, a sweatshirt with a dark band across it, dress shoes, no hat, and that his hair was not braided. She asserted that Watson was "absolutely not" the man who ran past her. Two months after the robbery, detectives showed her a series of twelve photographs, and she could not pick out either Henderson or Watson, though she also had been shown Henderson's photo and had seen Watson at the preliminary hearing and on television.

Jason Brockman, Jones's twelve-year-old son, was playing near the porch with his puppy and saw a man come running by and carrying an orange bag and a gun. He watched him for fifteen seconds, saw him full in the face, and was positive that Watson is not the man.

Cook testified that on June 4, after hearing about the robbery and murder, he reported to the police that Henderson had stolen his shotgun. Cook's father also delivered to the police the box of shotgun shells which normally contained twenty-five shells but then contained only eighteen. With this new information, police decided to reinterview Toney. It was at this point, after a cruiser picked her up at the hospital, that Toney first identified Watson as the robber. She told police that he had spent the night of June 2 at her house, that she had first met him two months before, and that she had not identified him earlier because she had been afraid that Watson would kill her.

On the basis of Cook's information, the police also decided to interview Henderson. According to police testimony, Henderson told them that he had driven Watson to the scene that night and had also picked him up after the robbery. Henderson told police that he threw the gun away after Watson told him that he had blown a man away. Henderson was not charged with any offense until a week before trial, when he was charged with complicity in the robbery. Henderson did not testify and no written statement of his was in evidence.

On June 8, the police found the shotgun in the river directly behind Toney's house and exactly where Henderson said he threw it. The shotgun was loaded with five shells when the police recovered it. The police have never recovered the gym bag or the money from the robbery.

Watson was tried by a jury, which convicted him of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, and a death specification alleging murder in the course of robbery. At the penalty phase the jury recommended death. The trial judge imposed the death penalty for the aggravated murder and terms of imprisonment for the aggravated robbery and firearm specification. On appeal, the court of appeals affirmed the conviction, the terms of imprisonment, and the death sentence.

The cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right.

John F. Holcomb, Pros. A...