State v. Workman

• Docket Number: 21AP-607
• Decision Date: 18 January 2024
• Citation: 2024 Ohio 167
• Parties: State of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Traquan C. Workman, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

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2024-Ohio-167

State of Ohio, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Traquan C. Workman, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 21AP-607

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Tenth District

January 18, 2024

APPEAL from the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas (C.P.C. No. 18CR-1283)

G. Gary Tyack, Prosecuting Attorney, and Kimberly M. Bond for appellee.

Wolfe Law Group, LLC, and Stephen T. Wolfe for appellant.

DECISION

MENTEL, P.J.

{¶ 1} A jury of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas convicted defendant-appellant, Traquan C. Workman, of multiple offenses that resulted in the death of Donavan Clemens, including aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. The trial court sentenced Mr. Workman to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 20 years. He appeals the conviction and sentence, arguing that the evidence was legally insufficient to support the conviction, the verdict was against the manifest weight of the evidence, and the trial court erred when sentencing him. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that no error occurred in the trial court and will affirm its judgment.

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{¶ 2} On March 16, 2018, plaintiff-appellee, the State of Ohio, filed an indictment charging Mr. Workman with six offenses in connection with the shooting death of Donavan Clemens: aggravated burglary in violation of R.C. 2911.11, with a firearm specification under R.C. 2941.145(A); aggravated robbery in violation of R.C. 2911.01, with a firearm specification; aggravated murder in violation of R.C. 2903.01, with a firearm specification; murder in violation of R.C. 2903.02, with a firearm specification; felony murder in violation of R.C. 2903.02, with a firearm specification; and one count of tampering with evidence in violation of R.C. 2921.12, including a firearm specification under R.C. 2941.141(A). A codefendant, Monique Green, was charged with two counts of tampering with evidence and two counts of receiving stolen property in violation of R.C. 2913.51. (Mar. 16, 2018 Indictment.)

{¶ 3} Trial commenced on September 13, 2021. The state's first witness, F.C., testified that she and her husband, Donavan Clemens, had been married for 20 years. (Sept. 14, 2021 Tr. at 239.) She and her late husband started a business that provided "a landscaping and a lawn care service, [with] maintenance on the side." Id. at 241. Mr. Clemens had started doing maintenance work for K.L. as an independent contractor in January of 2018. Id. at 243. K.L. was also their landlord. Id. at 244.

{¶ 4} F.C. last spoke to her husband on February 5, 2018, around six o'clock in the evening. Id. at 244-45. Mr. Clemens told her that he was dropping off a coworker who was assisting him before going to do a job for K.L. Id. at 245. According to F.C, her husband drove a 2011 white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. Id. at 248.

{¶ 5} W.T. testified that he had known Mr. Clemens for 12 years and had worked "doing little odd jobs here and there, off and on" with him. Id. at 294-95. On February 5, 2018, he and Mr. Clemens trimmed trees at an apartment building near Summit Ave. before going to work at apartments on Hamilton Rd. Id. at 296-97. Some time between 5:30 and a little after 6:00 p.m., Mr. Clemens asked W.T. to go with him to Lowe's to pick up a part to fix a hot water tank. Id. at 297-98. W.T. declined and asked Mr. Clemens to drop him off at home. Id. at 298. Mr. Clemens told him that he was going to pick up the part and return to the apartment building. Id. at 298-99. After that, the "next thing" W.T. heard was that Mr. Clemens had been "shot and he was in the hospital." Id. at 299.

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{¶ 6} K.L. is a real estate broker who managed the apartments at 1900, 1902 and 1904 Hamilton Rd. Id. at 278. He often used Mr. Clemens as a contractor and recalled that he "did good work." Id. at 279. Mr. Clemens had repaired "a few minor things" for a new tenant, J.J., on February 5, 2018, after picking up supplies from Lowe's. Id. at 279, 281. That day, K.L. "received a call from [J.J.]," who "was in distress." Id. at 282-83. J.J. "described a man banging on [her] car window and accusing her of stealing his truck" who appeared "bloody" and said he worked for K.L. Id. at 283. K.L. confirmed that the man was Mr. Clemens and drove to the apartments immediately. Id. When he arrived, police were already on the scene and Mr. Clemens had just been taken to the hospital. Id. at 283-84. K.L. provided the police with Mr. Clemens' cell phone number and a description of his white Chevrolet pickup truck. Id. at 285.

{¶ 7} J.J. testified that she lived at 1904 Hamilton Rd. in February of 2018. Id. at 342. She was in the process of moving into her apartment on the day of the shooting. Id. Mr. Clemens activated the hot water tank and left to buy new appliances for her apartment. Id. J.J. stated that she was "in and out all day" during the move. Id. at 343-44.

{¶ 8} Later, while J.J. sat in her parked car talking on the phone, Mr. Clemens "bumped into" it. Id. at 344. J.J. described Mr. Clemens as speaking to someone who wasn't there. Id. at 345. He said that "he was looking for somebody." Id. As he got closer to JJ.'s car, she noticed blood on the back of Mr. Clemens' head. Id. J.J. called the police and her landlord. Id. at 346.

{¶ 9} Officer Anthony Williams was on patrol in the area and responded to an emergency call from 1902 Hamilton Rd. Id. at 257-58. When he and his partner arrived, he saw "a man kind of stumbling around outside of the residence." Id. at 258. Officer Williams stayed with the victim while his partner went into the apartment complex. Id. at 258-59. The victim was "very disoriented" and could not say what had happened, only that "his head hurt." Id. at 259.

{¶ 10} Officer Williams' partner returned and he noticed that Mr. Clemens had "blood in his mouth, dried blood, and blood on his neck and the back of his head." Id. Officer Williams identified what he "believed to be an entry wound from a gunshot around the back right side of [the victim's] head and neck." Id. Mr. Clemens stated that "[h]e was there to work on one of the units in the apartment complex" and show an "apartment to a

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potential tenant," and that "someone had taken his truck." Id. at 260. After that, the medics arrived, Mr. Clemens became "pretty much unresponsive," and they took him to the hospital. Id.

{¶ 11} Officer Phillip Jackson responded to a call regarding the February 5, 2018 shooting. Id. at 304. He was working on "plainclothes assignment" that day, which allows an officer "to respond to scenes undetected [and] to provide assistance with high-degree crimes or situations." Id. at 305. Officer Jackson and his partner responded to "make some initial contact or to come out and check out the area to see if [they] could recover the stolen vehicle." Id. at 306. They left the scene to search for the vehicle. Id. After driving north and turning left, they saw "a white truck matching the description parked on the right side of the road." Id. at 307. After confirming that the truck belonged to the victim, they drove by the vehicle but "didn't see anybody inside." Id. at 307-08.

{¶ 12} Officer Jackson and his partner parked and set up surveillance of the truck. Id. at 308. After a while, a man and woman, later identified as Mr. Workman and Monique Green, approached the vehicle, got inside, and began to drive away. Id. at 308-09. Officer Jackson and his partner began to follow the truck and called for backup. Id. at 309. The truck stopped and Ms. Green got out and began walking north. Id. at 309.

{¶ 13} Officer Adam Hardwick was also working on plainclothes assignment for the Columbus Division of Police on February 5, 2018. Id. at 388. He and his partner responded to Officer Jackson's request for assistance to follow the pickup truck. Id. at 390-91. After hearing that the truck had again parked, and a woman got out and began walking, Officer Hardwick got out of his car and began following her on foot. Id. at 391. He took out his badge and identified himself as a police officer, but she "continued to walk * * *, and then she started picking up the pace and walking faster." Id. at 392. As he followed her with the intention of detaining her, he saw that she "reached in her right pocket, pulled out a wallet, and threw it on the ground in front of her." Id. Officer Hardwick then arrested her. Id. "She immediately said, I didn't do anything.'" Id. A patrol car pulled up and took her into custody. Id. at 392-93. Officer Hardwick testified that the woman was Monique Green. Id. at 393. The parties stipulated that two wallets-the wallet Ms. Green threw down and another wallet recovered from her person after the arrest-belonged to the victim, Donavan Clemens. Id. at 394-95.

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{¶ 14} Officer Jason Clark responded to plainclothes officers' report of having found the victim's truck. Id. at 402. He ordered Mr. Workman out of the truck and arrested him. Id. at 403. In the search conducted incident to the arrest, Officer Clark recovered a bottle of water, .380 caliber live ammunition, a cell phone, two nickels, cigarette butts, and a torch lighter from Mr. Workman. Id. at 405-11.

{¶ 15} Arthur Hughes is a detective at the Columbus Division of Police who conducted the homicide investigation of the shooting death of Donavan Clemens. Id. at 676-77. He was present at the scene when Mr. Workman and Ms. Green were arrested. Id. at 682. Detective Hughes testified that police recovered the victim's cell phone and two .380 caliber live rounds from Mr. Workman at that time. Id. at 694. Nevertheless, he released Mr. Workman the next day because he "felt the investigation wasn't complete" and wanted to collect more evidence. Id. at 696.

{¶ 16} Several weeks later, the crime lab informed Detective Hughes of a match between a shell casing from the scene of the shooting and a gun recently recovered. Id. at 698. Realizing that the gun was "obviously * * * the murder weapon," he went to...