State v. Williams

1

2023-Ohio-2296

STATE OF OHIO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JASHON WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 111922

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga

July 6, 2023

Criminal Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CR-21-660066-A

Michael C. O'Malley, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney, and Andrew Boyko, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for appellee.

Cullen Sweeney, Cuyahoga County Public Defender, and Francis Cavallo, Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

EILEEN A GALLAGHER, P.J.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Jashon Williams appeals his convictions for aggravated robbery, robbery, grand theft and theft following a jury trial. Williams contends that his convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence and were against the manifest weight of the evidence. He also contends that the trial court erred in failing to grant a mistrial after one of the state's witnesses heard, and was influenced by, testimony of another of the state's witnesses. He further contends that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, that cumulative errors committed during the trial deprived him of a fair trial and that the indefinite sentencing provisions of the Reagan Tokes Law are unconstitutional. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Procedural History and Factual Background

{¶ 2} On June 4, 2021, a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury indicted Williams and a codefendant, Carlin Rox, in a 24-count indictment. Twenty-two of the counts applied to Williams: two counts of aggravated robbery (Counts 1 and 16), eight counts of robbery (Counts 2-4, 12-13, 17-19), two counts of grand theft (Counts 8 and 23), six counts of theft (Counts 9-11, 14-15 and 24), two counts of improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle (Counts 7 and 22) and two counts of having weapons while under disability (Counts 6 and 21). The charges related to an August 7, 2020 crime spree involving three incidents that included the theft of two vehicles - a 2016 Ford Fiesta owned by Daniel Stavarz and a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee owned by Diane Clemence - and the theft of personal property belonging to four individuals - Daniel Stavarz and Ashley Holmes at a gas station in Lakewood (the "gas station robbery"), Alma Petkovic in the parking lot of a pharmaceutical services company in Euclid (the "Remedi robbery") and Diane Clemence in the Aldi parking lot at Steelyard Commons in Cleveland (the "Aldi robbery"). Counts 1-4, 8-9, 16-19 and 23 included one-year and three-year firearm specifications.

{¶ 3} Williams pled not guilty to all charges, and the case proceeded to trial against Williams.^[1] Counts 6 and 21, the having-weapons-while-under-disability charges, were tried to the bench. The remaining counts were tried to a jury.

{¶ 4} Trial commenced on July 11, 2022. The state presented testimony from 15 witnesses at trial, including Rox, the alleged victims (Stavarz, Holmes, Petkovic and Clemence), Williams' mother (Markea Carr) and numerous law enforcement officers. No witnesses testified on behalf of the defense. A summary of the relevant evidence follows.

Testimony by the Victims

{¶ 5} Stavarz testified that in the late evening of August 6 2020 or early morning of August 7, 2020, he picked up his girlfriend, Ashley Holmes, from work. The couple purchased food from a Taco Bell restaurant and then stopped at a nearby gas station, Franklin Gas & Mart (the "gas station"), located on the corner of Franklin and W. 117th Street in Lakewood, so Holmes could buy cigarettes. Stavarz parked his vehicle - a 2016 Ford Fiesta (the "Ford Fiesta") - at a pump and Holmes went inside. While waiting for Holmes to return, Stavarz exited the car to throw away some trash. As he was getting back into his car, a "tall male" "rushed up" on his driver's-side door, pointed a "silver like revolver type" gun at him and told him to get out of the car. Stavarz said that he turned his body to look at the perpetrator, then exited the vehicle, keeping his hand on the driver's-side door. Stavarz testified that the perpetrator got into the driver's seat and another male got into the front passenger's seat. Stavarz stated that he asked the perpetrator whether he was stealing his car and the perpetrator again pointed the gun at him. Stavarz said that he then let go of the door, stepped back and the men drove off in his vehicle. Stavarz stated that although it was a "quick interaction" and that his "focus" was later "on the gun," he saw the perpetrator's face "directly" twice - when the perpetrator first pointed the gun at Stavarz and told him to get out of the car and when the perpetrator pointed the gun at him as Stavarz was "holding onto the door staring straight at him" after the perpetrator sat in the driver's seat. Stavarz indicated that the perpetrator was wearing a "black like * * * athletic wear jacket" with the hood "pulled along the sides." "Without hesitation," Stavarz identified Williams in court as the man who had pointed the gun at him and stolen his vehicle.

{¶ 6} Stavarz testified that he did not know whether the gun was loaded but that he thought it was loaded or "else I probably wouldn't have listened to him." Stavarz stated that after the men left with his vehicle, he called the police on his cell phone and went inside the gas station to see if there was surveillance footage of the incident. Stavarz described the events depicted in surveillance video footage of the incident as the state played the videos for the jury.

{¶ 7} Stavarz testified that his wallet (containing his driver's license, credit and debit cards, gift cards and a little cash), his girlfriend's purse (containing her wallet, phone, cash, etc.) and some other "random stuff were in the vehicle at the time it was stolen.

{¶ 8} Holmes testified that on August 7, 2020, she and her then-boyfriend, Stavarz, stopped at a gas station so Holmes could get some cigarettes. Holmes stated that she went inside the store with her identification card and debit card to make a purchase and left her purse with her wallet and cell phone in the car. She indicated that she was only in the store for a few minutes before Stavarz came inside the store. She stated that Stavarz appeared "[f]rantic" and "[a] little scared" and that he asked a store employee whether the store had surveillance cameras. The police were called and responded to the scene. Holmes testified that she did not personally observe the theft of the Ford Fiesta. She identified a photograph of a wallet police recovered from the Ford Fiesta after the robbery as her wallet.

{¶ 9} Petkovic testified that at approximately 5:15 a.m. on August 7, 2020, she parked her car, a Lexus NX, in the parking lot of Remedi SeniorCare ("Remedi") in Euclid, where she worked as a pharmacy technician. She exited her vehicle and started walking towards the entrance. As she did so, a male "came from behind [her] very fast" and "asked for the keys." She stated that she told the male she was not going to give them to him and continued toward the building. She testified that the male then said, "Give me your purse," and grabbed her purse, a "[b]ig, white purse," out of her hand. Petkovic stated that he grabbed her purse so hard, she fell. Petkovic testified that the male started running toward a parked car and she got up and ran after him. When she got close, the male pushed her, she fell a second time, and the vehicle "reversed and took off." Petkovic stated that she then went into the building and asked her colleagues to call the police. She indicated that, at the time her purse was stolen, it contained among other items, her identification, her wallet, her credit cards, some cash, her reading glasses, sunglasses and an email from her boss. When police arrived, she told them what had happened.

{¶ 10} Petkovic testified that she saw the perpetrator, who was wearing a hoodie, for "just a couple seconds" and that she could not identify the perpetrator. Petkovic identified and described surveillance video footage and still images depicting her vehicle and the robbery. Petkovic also identified photographs of her injuries from the incident, i.e., bruises and scratches, and photographs of her reading glasses, sunglasses, glasses cases and a printout of an email message that was in her purse at the time it was stolen, which were later found by police in the Ford Fiesta.

{¶ 11} Clemence testified that she pulled into the Aldi parking lot at Steelyard Commons at approximately 5:40 a.m. on August 7, 2020 on her way to work as a stocker. Clemence stated that she waited in her car, a grey 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (the "Jeep"), for a few minutes until the store lights turned on. While she was waiting, a coworker pulled into the parking lot and a third vehicle arrived, a black car, small or midsize, with two men inside, "one in the front, one in the back." Clemence did not recognize the third vehicle and assumed it was someone dropping off another coworker. Clemence testified that, when the store lights turned on, Clemence and her coworker exited their vehicles and walked towards the store and the person who had been in the front seat of the third vehicle exited the third vehicle. Clemence testified that, suddenly, a "young kid" was standing next to her, with a gun in his hand, demanding her keys. Clemence stated that his left arm "got around" her and that she extended her right arm and put her right hand on the perpetrator's right hand because she did not want him pointing the gun at her. The pair "struggled" for "not even maybe less than a minute" and the perpetrator grabbed her keys, jumped into her vehicle and drove off, heading east. Clemence described the perpetrator as a "very young age looking" African-American male with no...