169 Ohio St.3d 127
202 N.E.3d 651
The STATE of Ohio, Appellee,
v.
BRINKMAN, Appellant.
No. 2019-1642
Supreme Court of Ohio.
Submitted November 10, 2021
Decided July 28, 2022
Kyle L. Stone, Stark County Prosecuting Attorney, Lisa A. Nemes, Chief Appellate Prosecuting Attorney, and Vicki L. DeSantis, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee.
Timothy Young, Ohio Public Defender, and Kathryn L. Sandford and Randall L. Porter, Assistant Public Defenders, for appellant.
DeWine, J.
{¶ 1} This is a direct appeal in a capital case. George Brinkman murdered Rogell ("Gene") and Roberta ("Bobbi") John in their home upon their return from vacation. Brinkman waived his right to a jury trial and entered guilty pleas to the charges against him. A three-judge panel found Brinkman guilty of two counts of aggravated murder and sentenced him to death on each count. We affirm his convictions and death sentences.
{¶ 2} But we conclude that the trial court erred by imposing postrelease control with respect to Brinkman's convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, since those counts were merged with the aggravated-murder convictions for purposes of sentencing. We therefore reverse the trial court's judgment imposing postrelease control as to the aggravated-burglary and aggravated-robbery counts, and we remand Brinkman's case to the trial court with instructions for it to vacate the improperly imposed postrelease control.
I. BACKGROUND
A. The Johns’ bodies are discovered
{¶ 3} The John family had known Brinkman for some time. According to Gene's son, Jason, the family met Brinkman a decade earlier when Brinkman started dating Jason's half-sister. After that relationship ended, Brinkman continued to work for a company co-owned by Jason and Gene and spent some holidays with the John family.
{¶ 4} In June 2017, Brinkman house- and dog-sat for the Johns at their home in North Canton while they were away on vacation. The Johns were scheduled to return home on Sunday, June 11.
{¶ 5} The next day, Jason learned that Gene had not shown up for work. Unable to reach Gene or Bobbi, Jason called Brinkman, who told him that the couple had arrived home around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Brinkman told Jason that
Bobbi had not been feeling well and had gone to lie down but that he had stayed and talked with Gene for a few hours before he left their house.
{¶ 6} After work, Jason went straight to the Johns’ home, where he discovered their bodies in an upstairs bedroom. He called 9-1-1. Deputies from the Stark County Sherriff's Office reported to the scene. They found Gene's body on the bedroom floor, underneath a blood-soaked comforter with bullet holes in it. A black wallet lay on the floor near Gene's left hand. Bobbi's body was on the bed, covered with a sheet. And there was a bloodstained pillow with bullet holes in it on the floor next to the bed.
B. Brinkman is arrested and interviewed
{¶ 7} Jason gave the deputies Brinkman's cell-phone number and address. The deputies "pinged" Brinkman's phone to pinpoint its GPS location and then forwarded that information to the Brunswick and North Royalton police departments. North Royalton police tracked Brinkman down and took him into custody on June 13. That day, Stark County Deputy Sheriff Craig Kennedy interviewed Brinkman at the North Royalton police department. Brinkman denied having anything to do with the John murders.
{¶ 8} The next day, Deputy Sheriff Rick Stauffer and FBI Agent Andrew Earl interviewed Brinkman. Brinkman said that he housesat for the Johns during the past week while they were on vacation. He told the investigators that on the day the Johns were expected to return from vacation, he noticed an M1911 handgun in an open box on Gene's desk. He saw rounds nearby and put them into the clip and placed the clip into the gun. He then moved through the house, pointing and pretending to shoot the gun as he went. When he saw the Johns arrive home, he put the gun down and helped carry in their luggage.
{¶ 9} According to Brinkman, Bobbi "started yelling" at him soon after she walked into the house, and she accused him of neglecting the dog. While Bobbi and Brinkman were going at it, Gene spotted the gun and asked why it was out of its box. Brinkman grabbed the gun and told the Johns to "shut up." When the Johns continued yelling at him, Brinkman ordered them upstairs to the guest bedroom at gunpoint. (Brinkman said that he had picked that bedroom because it was farthest from the neighbors, who had a young child.)
{¶ 10} Brinkman ordered the Johns to sit on the bed. But when he turned to leave the room, he heard Gene get off the bed behind him. Brinkman turned back around and, in his telling, the gun just "went off," shooting Gene in the hip. Although he had admitted to loading the gun,
Brinkman claimed that he had not known that there was a round in the chamber.
{¶ 11} According to Brinkman, Bobbi started "freaking out" after he shot Gene, so he pointed the gun at her and told her to shut up. Brinkman threw a
comforter to Gene to stop the bleeding and started hitting Bobbi on her head with the butt of the gun because she would not be quiet. When Gene tried to stand up, Brinkman shot him twice more. Brinkman then pushed Bobbi's head down onto the bed and continued to beat her with the butt of the gun. Bobbi kept screaming, so Brinkman covered her head with a pillow and shot her. He put pillows under Gene's body so that Gene "would be comfortable." But Bobbi was still making gurgling sounds and trying to talk, so Brinkman held a pillow over her face for five to ten minutes until she was quiet. He covered the two dead bodies with blankets.
{¶ 12} Brinkman took the four spent shell casings, the Johns’ cell phones, and $140 in cash from their wallets. Before leaving the house, he showered and changed clothes. He later disposed of his bloody clothes, the cell phones, and the gun somewhere on I-77 or I-71.
C. The autopsies
{¶ 13} Renée Robinson, a Stark County deputy coroner, performed autopsies on both victims. She concluded that gunshot wounds were the cause of death in each case. Blunt-force trauma to Bobbi's head and neck also contributed to her death.
{¶ 14} According to Dr. Robinson, two bullets struck Gene on the right side of his chest, one of which exited the left side of his body. A third bullet entered his "left flank" and was recovered in his "right buttock."
{¶ 15} Dr. Robinson determined that Bobbi had suffered gunshot wounds to the right side of her head and left shoulder. She also sustained multiple blunt-force injuries to her torso, left and right upper extremities, right foot, neck, and head. One side of Bobbi's skull had been crushed, resulting in significant bleeding around her brain.
II. TRIAL-COURT PROCEEDINGS
{¶ 16} Brinkman was charged in the Stark County Court of Common Pleas with six counts:
| Counts | Charges | Death Specifications | Other Specifications |
| 1 | Aggravated murder of Gene under R.C. 2903.01(B) (felony murder predicated on aggravated burglary and/or aggravated robbery) | Each count included a course-of-conduct specification under R.C. 2929.04(A)(5) and two felony-murder specifications based on the commission of aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery as the principal offender under R.C. 2929.04(A)(7). | Counts 1 through 5 each carried a firearm specification under R.C. 2941.145(A). |
| 2 | Aggravated murder of Bobbi under R.C. 2903.01(B) (felony murder predicated on aggravated burglary and/or aggravated robbery) | ||
| 3 | Aggravated burglary by trespass | ||
| 4 | Aggravated robbery of Gene |
