State v. Williams

• Decision Date: 16 February 2021
• Docket Number: Case No. 2019CA00188
• Citation: 2021 Ohio 443
• Parties: STATE OF OHIO Plaintiff-Appellee v. CURTIS JAMES WILLIAMS Defendant-Appellant
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

2021 Ohio 443

STATE OF OHIO Plaintiff-Appellee v. CURTIS JAMES WILLIAMS Defendant-Appellant

Case No. 2019CA00188

COURT OF APPEALS STARK COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

February 16, 2021

JUDGES: Hon. William B. Hoffman, P.J. Hon. John W. Wise, J. Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, J.

OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDINGS: Appeal from the Stark County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 2018 CR 2314(B)

JUDGMENT: Affirmed

APPEARANCES:

For Plaintiff-Appellee

JOHN D. FERRERO

Prosecuting Attorney,

Stark County, Ohio

KATHLEEN O. TATARSKY

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney

Appellate Section

110 Central Plaza, South - Suite #510

Canton, Ohio 44702-1413

For Defendant-Appellant

AARON KOVALCHIK

116 Cleveland Avenue, N.W.

808 Courtyard Centre

Canton, Ohio 44702

Hoffman, P.J.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant Curtis James Williams appeals the judgment entered by the Stark County Common Pleas Court convicting him of one count of felony murder with a firearm specification (R.C. 2903.02(B), R.C. 2941.145) and three counts of felonious assault with firearm specifications (R.C. 2903.11(A)(1), (2), R.C. 2941.145), and sentencing him to an aggregate term of twenty-five years to life in prison. Plaintiff-appellee is the state of Ohio.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE

{¶2} On December 14, 2018, Tameez Moore of Akron believed he lost a fight to Mitch Greenlief of Canton, and sought a rematch. Moore's girlfriend, who is also the sister of Greenlief and Appellant, organized the fight using social media. The fight was to be a one-on-one fistfight at the Madge Youtz Elementary School parking lot on December 15, 2018, around 6:30-7:00 p.m.

{¶3} Moore arranged for five of his friends from Akron and his brother to attend the fight, traveling from Akron to Canton in two vehicles. Everett Whitfield, Moore's mother's boyfriend, followed to look after the boys. Mitch Greenlief arranged for five of his Canton friends to attend, including Appellant. Moore and his group arrived in Canton, but after viewing the designated parking lot, they moved their vehicle to a parking spot on a nearby street. Moore saw the Canton group arrive near the top of a fence by the parking lot. The men in the Canton group were all dressed in black. Moore saw Appellant and Mitch Greenlief arrive on foot. Appellant's sister noticed Appellant came to the fight with a firearm behind his back. When she saw him with the gun, she pushed him away. He told her not to say his name, saying, "I don't fight, I shoot." Tr. II, 15; Tr. III, 12. {¶4} Mitch threw his hat at Moore, and the pair squared up, readying for a fistfight. Before any punches were thrown, Whitfield saw one of the Canton group holding a gun behind his back, which was visible between his legs. Whitfield stopped the fight, saying, "This ain't no fight. If he got a gun it's - the fight is over." Tr. I, 308. Words were exchanged, with the Canton group calling the Akron men "bitches" and "pussies."

{¶5} The Akron group got in their cars. Moore, Donte Alexander, and Zohntai Walker got in Moore's vehicle. Alexander was seated in the back seat, behind the driver. Moore was parked on Midway Avenue headed north, and pulled out of the parking spot. He drove until he was next to Appellant's vehicle. Not familiar with his surroundings, he stopped the vehicle and pulled out his telephone to check the GPS. Alexander said, "They're about to start shooting," and the shooting began. Tr. I, 258.

{¶6} A bullet penetrated Alexander's neck. Moore dropped his phone and sped away, trying to find a hospital. Moore was blowing his horn and screaming when he saw a State Trooper on State Route 62. Trooper George Ksenich got out of his patrol car and saw Alexander in the back seat of Moore's vehicle, unresponsive and covered in blood. EMS arrived and Alexander was taken to Aultman Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police found a Hi-Point 9 mm handgun on the rear passenger seat with a full magazine and a bullet in the chamber.

{¶7} Canton Police Officer Zachary Taylor responded to a call about a shooting which occurred around Midway Avenue and 22^nd Street. Officer Taylor found broken glass and a vehicle reflector in the road. He learned a black SUV which was involved in the shooting was parked in front of a residence at 2014 Midway. Taylor secured the scene. A shell casing from a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun was found at the scene, as well as several bullet holes in a champagne SUV. Taylor arranged a trash pull of the trash in front of 2014 Midway, where he found two more .40 caliber Smith and Wesson shell casings. Officer Taylor learned the owner of the black SUV was Appellant. Taylor found a pair of black North Face gloves in the residence. The left glove had gunshot residue on it, as well as Appellant's DNA.

{¶8} Moore's vehicle was examined by BCI investigators. The back window was completely knocked out and there were a total of six bullet holes in the rear area and driver's side mirror of the vehicle. There was no damage to the front of the vehicle. BCI experts determined the vehicle was moving at the time of the shooting, The investigation revealed three rounds were fired, followed by a pause, followed by three additional rounds fired.

{¶9} Appellant was indicted by the Stark County Grand Jury with one count of felony murder with felonious assault as the predicate offense, and three counts of felonious assault, all with firearm specifications. The case proceeded to jury trial in the Stark County Common Pleas Court.

{¶10} Prior to the third day of trial, the State notified the court it had received a letter written by Appellant to Mitch Greenlief, while both were housed at the Stark County Jail. The letter was found on the floor of the jail hallway. The trial court allowed the letter to be admitted into evidence through the testimony of a deputy sheriff employed at the jail.

{¶11} Appellant argued self-defense at trial. Appellant did not testify. Appellant presented the testimony of his brother, Christian Greenlief, in support of his defense. Christian testified during the fight, he heard one of the Akron men say, "I'm going to air this bitch out," which meant he was going to start shooting. Tr. 3, 114. The group dispersed. Christian initially got into his vehicle with his girlfriend and daughter. He then became concerned about his brothers because they were outnumbered by the Akron group. He saw Moore's car "coming pretty fast," and believed either the Akron men wanted more conflict or something bad was about to happen. Tr. 3, 119-120. Christian exited his car and told his girlfriend to go home. Moore's car slowed down enough to allow Christian to cross the street in front. He noticed the rear driver's side window of Moore's vehicle was open, and the rear passenger window was rolling down. He heard gunshots, got back in the car with his girlfriend, and left the scene.

{¶12} Following trial, Appellant was convicted on all counts. The trial court merged one count of felonious assault and its accompanying firearm specification into the felony murder conviction, with the State electing to have Appellant sentenced on the murder conviction. The trial court sentenced Appellant to 15 years to life for murder, with an additional three years on the firearm specification, to be served consecutively. The trial court sentenced Appellant to four years incarceration for each count of felonious assault and an additional three years for each firearm specification. The sentence for count three of felonious assault and its accompanying specification were to be served concurrently with the sentences for count two of felonious assault and its firearm specification. The sentences for count two of felonious assault and its firearm specification were to be served consecutively with the murder sentence, for an aggregate sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

{¶13} It is from the September 26, 2019 judgment of the trial court Appellant prosecutes his appeal, assigning as error:

I. THE STATE FAILED TO PRESENT SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO SUSTAIN A CONVICTION AGAINST THE APPELLANT, AND THE CONVICTION MUST BE REVERSED.

II. THE APPELLANT'S CONVICTION IS AGAINST THE MANIFEST WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED, AND MUST BE REVERSED.

III. THE TRIAL COURT PLAINLY ERRED BY FAILING TO PRESENT A JURY ON THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES OF VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT.

IV. THE APPELLANT WAS DENIED EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL IN VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHTS UNDER THE 6^TH AND 14^TH AMENDMENTS TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE 1, SECTION 10 OF THE OHIO CONSTITUTION.

V. THE HANDWRITTEN LETTER FOUND IN THE HALLWAY OF THE STARK COUNTY JAIL AND ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY APPELLANT WAS NOT PROPERLY AUTHENTICATED AND THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR BY ALLOWING IT TO BE ENTERED INTO EVIDENCE.

I.

{¶14} In his first assignment of error, Appellant argues the State did not present sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he did not shoot at Moore's vehicle in self-defense. He argues when Moore pulled his car next to Appellant's and stopped with the back-right passenger window rolled down, any objectively reasonable person in Appellant's position would have believed Moore stopped next to Appellant's car in order to shoot at the occupants of Appellant's vehicle. He argues it is reasonable to believe had he not acted in self-defense, he or another occupant of his vehicle would have been shot by the gun found inside Moore's vehicle through the rolled-down back passenger window.

{¶15} An appellate court's function when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence is to determine whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St. 3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492, paragraph two of the syllabus (1991).

{¶16} The elements of self-defense in the use of deadly force are: (1) the defendant was not at fault in creating the...