The Akron Legal News

Conviction stands for drunk man who clawed cop in the face

JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: July 21, 2014

A man who clawed a police officer’s face during his arrest recently lost his appeal when the 5th District Court of Appeals found his trial counsel was not ineffective.

Ricky Porter was indicted on one count of assault of a police officer, a fourth-degree felony, after he allegedly attacked his arresting officers.

The facts of the case state that officers from the Mansfield Police Department responded to a call at The Woods Apartment Complex on May 12, 2013.

Porter’s mother placed the call and complained that Porter was “drunk and angry,” according to case summary.

When the officers arrived at the complex, however, they were unable to locate Porter.

Instead, they photographed damage that he allegedly caused to the property while a neighbor visited Porter’s mother to calm her down.

Shortly after the officers left the apartment, Porter returned and started banging and kicking at the door.

A neighbor called the police and police returned to the scene.

This time, the officers searched a laundry room on the property and located Porter hiding behind some pipes next to a furnace.

They later testified Porter refused to come out from behind the pipes and they could detect the smell of alcohol emanating from his person.

“The officers attempted to extract appellant from the premises, but appellant broke free and became violent. Appellant punched Officer Dittrich in the jaw and clawed his face and left eye,” Presiding Judge William Hoffman wrote in his report on behalf of the three-judge appellate panel.

A third officer came to the aid of the first two and was able to tackle Porter so that he could be handcuffed.

After he was placed into custody, Porter continued to yell obscenities at the officers, issue threats and threw a punch at a corrections officer in the jail.

Dittrich sustained a swollen left eye and left jaw, scratches on his cheek and a shoulder injury. A second officer had some bruising and his uniform was torn.

The Richland County Court of Common Pleas found Porter guilty of the charge against him and sentenced him to 18 months incarceration and restitution.

On direct appeal to the 5th District, Porter argued that he was denied effective assistance of trial counsel.

“Appellant maintains his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to introduce statements of appellant’s mother stating, ‘They are beating up my baby,’” Judge Hoffman stated.

The judges found that during trial, the defense argued that the officers’ behavior on the night in question was retaliation for a complaint Porter had previously lodged against the Mansfield Police Department.

“Upon review of the record, we find appellant has not demonstrated how the statements made by his mother would have affected the outcome of the trial. Specifically, appellant has not demonstrated a reasonable probability, but for the alleged error of trial counsel, the result of the proceeding would have been different,” Judge Hoffman wrote.

Accordingly, the judges overruled the first assignment of error.

Porter next asserted the trial court erred in denying his attempt to impeach a witness’ credibility.

The appellate judges determined that Porter’s counsel did attempt to impeach the witness’ credibility and did not object when the trial court prohibited a specific line of questioning.

“Assuming arguendo, the trail court erred in prohibiting appellant to impeach his own witness by means of a prior inconsistent statement, we find appellant has not demonstrated prejudice as a result of the alleged error. Accordingly, we find the trial court’s alleged error would be harmless,” Judge Hoffman stated.

Judges Sheila Farmer and Craig Baldwin joined Judge Hoffman in affirming the lower court’s ruling.

The case is cited State v. Porter, 2014-Ohio-2680.

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