The Akron Legal News

Court affirms conviction of alumnus who assaulted school's athletic director

JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: August 6, 2012

A 5th District Court of Appeals panel recently ruled that there was sufficient evidence to convict a former Westerville Central High School student of assaulting the school’s athletic director.

The three-judge appellate panel rejected Kylan Mundell’s claims that he did not cause serious physical harm to the school administrator when he pinned his arm to the ground and proceeded to punch him in the head multiple times.

“Upon review, we find the jury’s decision did not create a manifest miscarriage of justice requiring that appellant’s convictions be reversed and a new trial ordered,” 5th District Judge John Wise wrote for the court.

Case summary details that Mundell attended a basketball game at his alma mater, Westerville Central High School, on Dec. 10, 2010.

Following the game several of the school’s administrators were called outside to breakup a fight in the parking lot. They then noticed a car parked in the fire lane and were standing near it when Mundell approached and told them to get away from his car.

Andrew Ey, the school’s athletic director, told Mundell to remove the car from the fire lane, according to the summary.

After a verbal altercation, a fight broke out and the two went to the ground with Mundell on top of Ey. Mundell pinned Ey’s right arm above his head while hitting his face, according to witness testimony. Ey was taken to the hospital and treated for a dislocated shoulder and received stitches in his ear.

Some witnesses testified that Mundell ran at Ey and pinned him to the ground, while others testified that Ey grabbed Mundell’s vest and the two fell to the ground.

The school’s principal and a volunteer coach pulled Mundell off of Ey and Mundell left the scene in his car.

A Delaware County Court of Common Pleas jury found Mundell guilty of aggravated assault and assault on a school administrator. He was sentenced to community control sanctions and 120 days in jail.

On appeal to the 5th District, Mundell claimed his convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence and were against the manifest weight of the evidence.

The 5th District appellate panel stated that aggravated assault was defined as a person causing serious physical harm to another “while under the influence of sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage.”

The judges found that three witnesses had testified to seeing Mundell on top of Ey and punching him after they went to the ground. The witnesses further stated that there had been a verbal dispute involving profanity from both parties prior to the physical altercation.

Mundell claimed that no serious physical harm occurred and the conviction could not stand.

The judges, however, determined that a report from Riverside Hospital’s emergency room detailed that Ey had difficulty using his right arm and had bleeding from his left ear. Ey also testified that the injury limited his abilities as an athletic director for “several weeks.”

“Thus, the evidence viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecution, established that appellant pinned Ey’s arm over his head with one hand, dislocating his shoulder, and proceeded to punch him numerous times about the head with his other hand,” Wise stated.

“We therefore find the aggravated assault and assault convictions were supported by sufficient evidence.”

Mundell contended that his convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence because several witnesses portrayed him as the victim and Ey as the aggressor, proving that the jury had lost its way in failing to find that he acted in self-defense.

The judges, however, found that this line of reasoning was negated by consistent witness testimony about Mundell’s actions once the two men were on the ground. Mundell was also quoted in the testimony as yelling “I got you, Ey. What now?” as he was pulled off the athletic director.

The judges held that this, along with Mundell fleeing the scene without informing police of the incident, were damaging to Mundell’s self-defense claims.

“Upon review of both the state’s witnesses and the defense witnesses, we are unpersuaded that the jury lost its way in rejecting the defense of self-defense vis-à-vis the assault charges,” Wise continued.

“For the reasons stated in the foregoing, the decision of the Court of Common Pleas, Delaware County, Ohio, is hereby affirmed.”

Fellow 5th District Judge Julie Edwards and Presiding Judge Patricia Delaney joined Wise to form the majority.

The case is cited State v. Mundell, case No. 2012-Ohio-3378.

[Back]