The Akron Legal News

Assault conviction stands despite victim's denial

JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: September 2, 2015

The 5th District Court of Appeals recently affirmed a Canton man’s felonious assault conviction after a witness claimed he struck his girlfriend multiple times during an argument.

In his appeal from the Stark County Court of Common Pleas, Aaron Lecory Johnson asserted that his conviction was against the manifest weight of the evidence and that his seven year prison term was improper.

Johnson was first arrested after his girlfriend, Joane Dabney, was taken to the hospital for injuries to her face and lip that required several stitches. Dabney denied that Johnson had caused her injuries, but other witnesses contradicted her version of events.

Dabney stated that she was walking to Johnson’s house when she was attacked. Her story altered throughout the interview and she reportedly told police she was attacked by two women that she did not know, though she gave physical descriptions. She later indicated there were three attackers and her story changed again at court.

Before the jury, Dabney testified that she was approached by three girls and a fourth person whose gender she was unsure of. She said she had used drugs with them in the past and they “had a problem” with her.

On the night in question, Dabney said the group asked if they could use paraphernalia to smoke with and she told them no.

“So they just started beating me up,” she said.

She claimed Johnson ran outside and pulled the people off of her so she could get away. She said she then ran to Tara Ramer’s house but after getting no response she ran to the house Johnson shared with David Garrett.

Dabney said she pounded on the door until Garrett let her in, by which time she was bleeding heavily. She then called 911 and went to the hospital where she received six to eight stitches on her lip.

Dabney admitted that she used her sister’s name when speaking to police and paramedics because she thought she had a warrant out for her arrest.

Police first started to question Dabney’s story after arriving on the scene and finding no evidence of an altercation outside. They did, however, find a large amount of blood and signs of a struggle inside the house, including broken dishes in the kitchen. They further noted that Johnson’s knuckles were bloody.

Ramer contradicted Dabney’s story, saying she opened the door when Dabney pounded on it and let her in. She said Dabney immediately stated, “I told him to stop.” Ramer noticed Dabney was bleeding heavily from her lip and had her call 911.

She also testified that when she entered Johnson and Garrett’s home, it “looked like a blood bath.” She denied that Dabney told her anything about being jumped outside.

Garrett also contradicted Dabney’s version of events.

He said he was home when he heard Johnson and Dabney start to argue. That disagreement escalated to a physical altercation and Garrett said he saw Johnson hitting Dabney in the face, arms and upper body. He claimed Dabney was throwing things at Johnson to try to get him to stop.

Garrett said there was blood throughout his apartment, but Dabney had not been bleeding when she first entered.

After hearing the testimony and seeing photographs of Dabney’s injuries and the crime scene, the jury found Johnson guilty of felonious assault and the trial court ordered him to serve seven years in prison.

On review, the appellate court noted that the state had to prove that Johnson caused Dabney serious physical harm.

“Appellant, in arguing that his conviction for felonious assault is against the manifest weight of the evidence, maintains that the testimony of all of the witnesses was not credible and was inconsistent,” Judge Craig Baldwin wrote on behalf of the appellate panel.

However, the district court maintained that even if there were inconsistencies in testimony from Ramer and Garrett, the jury was in the best position to assess their credibility. Based on that jury’s verdict, the judges found it was clear that they found Garrett’s testimony believable.

The judges further held that such a finding was reasonable because Garrett’s testimony was supported by the physical evidence of blood throughout the house, broken dishes in the kitchen and cuts on Johnson’s knuckles.

“We also note that Dabney’s testimony itself was inconsistent,” Baldwin wrote.

The appellate court emphasized her changing story about the number of her attackers and how she knew them.

“Clearly, the jury did not find her version of events credible in light of the other evidence,” Baldwin continued.

Based on those findings, the appellate court affirmed Johnson’s conviction.

He next argued that his nearly maximum prison sentence was not supported by the record.

The appellate court disagreed, noting that Johnson has a lengthy criminal record spanning several years.

“His record includes assault and domestic violence charges along with drug, theft and tampering charges. In addition, appellant expressed no remorse at the sentencing hearing,” Baldwin stated.

Finding no errors, Presiding Judge Scott Gwin and Judge Sheila Farmer joined Baldwin and overruled Johnson’s appeal.

The case is cited State v. Johnson, 2015-Ohio-3331.

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