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ROBERTS, APPELLEE.", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "[Cite as State v. Roberts, 2025-Ohio-5120.]", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "Criminal law—Crim.R. 52(A)—Trial court’s errors were harmless beyond a", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "reasonable doubt because even when the erroneously admitted evidence is", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "excised, overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt remains—Court of", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "appeals’ judgment reversed and convictions reinstated.", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "(No. 2024-0854—Submitted May 14, 2025—Decided November 14, 2025.)", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Hamilton County,", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "No. C-220615, 2024-Ohio-1604.", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "__________________", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "KENNEDY, C.J., authored the opinion of the court, which DEWINE, DETERS,", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "HAWKINS, and SHANAHAN, JJ., joined and CARR and BRUNNER, JJ., joined except", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "as to footnote 1. DONNA J. CARR, J., of the Ninth District Court of Appeals, sat for", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "FISCHER, J.", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "KENNEDY, C.J.", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "{¶ 1} In this discretionary appeal from a judgment of the First District Court", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "of Appeals, we decide whether the appellate court erred in reversing appellee Elijah", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "Blaine Roberts’s convictions for aggravated murder and aggravated robbery based", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "on its conclusion that the trial court’s errors in admitting Roberts’s custodial", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "statements and certain other-acts evidence were not harmless. After a thorough", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "review of the record, we hold that the trial court’s errors were harmless beyond a", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "reasonable doubt because even when the erroneously admitted evidence is excised,", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "there remains overwhelming evidence of Roberts’s guilt.", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "{¶ 2} On July 31, 2019, Tracey Epperson entered her apartment in", "paragraph_id": "para_27", "court_paragraph": 2 }, { "text": "Cincinnati, Ohio, with groceries and her purse. She was violently attacked in the", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "entryway and strangled to death with the strap of her purse.", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "{¶ 3} Later that same day, in Tipton, Indiana, Deputy Whitney Lushin of", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office conducted a wellness check on the driver of a", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "Honda CR-V who had pulled over on the side of a highway. The driver initially", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "lied about his name and age but was later identified as Epperson’s son, Elijah Blaine", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "Roberts. While Roberts was detained on the side of the road, Lushin learned that", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "the Honda CR-V was Epperson’s and discovered that Roberts was also in", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "possession of Epperson’s wallet. Inside the wallet was a folded Kroger receipt,", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "Epperson’s Ohio driver’s license, her credit cards, and some cash. Roberts was", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "arrested for providing false information to the deputy.", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "{¶ 4} The next day, Cincinnati police discovered Epperson’s body in the", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "entryway of her apartment. After an investigation, Roberts was indicted by a", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "Hamilton County grand jury on five counts, including two counts of aggravated", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "murder and one count of aggravated robbery.", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "{¶ 5} Before trial, in response to a motion by Roberts, the trial court", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "suppressed Roberts’s statements that were recorded by Lushin’s body-worn camera", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "after the 43:49 minute mark of the video, which is the point in the video when", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "Roberts is placed under arrest. The trial court determined that the statements after", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "that point were custodial statements. The court denied Roberts’s motion in limine", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "to exclude other-acts testimony from Roberts’s aunt, Regina Williams.", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "{¶ 6} At trial, the State presented numerous witnesses and items of", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "evidence. The jury found Roberts guilty of two counts of aggravated murder and", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "one count each of aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence. In a single", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "count tried to the bench, the trial court found Roberts guilty of receiving stolen", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "property.", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "{¶ 7} On appeal, the First District held that Roberts had been in police", "paragraph_id": "para_56", "court_paragraph": 3 }, { "text": "custody starting at the 15:59 minute mark of the video and that the trial court had", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "erred by admitting the statements Roberts made to Lushin after that point. The", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "court of appeals also held that the trial court had erred by admitting Williams’s", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "other-acts testimony. Moreover, the court of appeals determined that these errors", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "were not harmless, and it reversed Roberts’s convictions for aggravated murder,", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "aggravated robbery, and tampering with evidence. But the court of appeals", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "determined that because the State had presented sufficient evidence to prove that", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "Roberts had committed the offenses of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery,", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "Roberts could be retried on those counts. However, the court of appeals determined", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "that the State had not presented sufficient evidence to prove that Roberts committed", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "the offense of tampering with evidence, so it held that Roberts could not be retried", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "on that count. The court of appeals found Roberts’s manifest-weight-of-the-", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "evidence claim moot, based on its reversal of his convictions, and it remanded the", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "cause for a new trial. The State appealed to this court and asks us to reverse the", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "court of appeals’ judgment as to the aggravated-murder and aggravated-robbery", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "convictions.", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "{¶ 8} We hold that the First District erred in reversing Roberts’s convictions", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "for aggravated murder and aggravated robbery because after excising the evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "that the court of appeals determined had been improperly admitted, we find that the", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "remaining evidence overwhelmingly proves Roberts’s guilt. Therefore, any error", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "in the trial court’s admitting the custodial statements and other-acts evidence was", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "{¶ 9} Although the court of appeals determined that Roberts’s manifest-", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "weight-of-the-evidence assignment of error was moot because it reversed his", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "convictions on other grounds, we need not remand the case to the court of appeals", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "to address that assignment of error. Given our decision that there is overwhelming", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "evidence of guilt even without the improperly admitted evidence, Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "convictions for aggravated murder and aggravated robbery necessarily are not", "paragraph_id": "para_86", "court_paragraph": 4 }, { "text": "against the manifest weight of the evidence.", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "{¶ 10} For these reasons, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "and reinstate Roberts’s convictions for aggravated murder and aggravated robbery.", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "I. FACTS", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "A. Epperson’s Murder", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "{¶ 11} On the afternoon of July 31, 2019, Epperson entered her apartment", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "on East Tower Drive in Cincinnati, Ohio, wearing a long-strapped white purse", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "across her body and carrying groceries she had recently purchased from a Kroger", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "grocery store and a sandwich and bag of chips from Jimmy John’s (which were in", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "a Jimmy John’s bag that was tucked inside a Kroger grocery bag). As she entered", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "her apartment, Epperson was violently attacked and strangled with the strap of her", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "purse until she was dead.", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "B. Days Leading Up to Epperson’s Murder", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "{¶ 12} In the summer of 2019, Roberts was living with Regina Williams—", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "his paternal aunt—in Augusta, Georgia. On the evening of July 29, Williams, who", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "typically kept her purse with her at all times, went upstairs in her home and", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "momentarily left her purse downstairs in the kitchen. Among other things, her car", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "keys were inside her purse. Williams retrieved her purse from the kitchen and took", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "it upstairs but then saw Roberts drive off in her car, a Honda Pilot, without her", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "permission, sometime between 9:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "{¶ 13} Williams called the police to report her car stolen. And she called", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "the police a second time that night when she noticed that the curtains in her dining", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "room were “smoldering.”", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "{¶ 14} Williams then called Roberts’s mother, Epperson, and told her what", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "had happened. Epperson became very concerned, and the two women stayed in", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "contact throughout July 29 and 30, talking and texting about their efforts to locate", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "Roberts. Williams suggested to Epperson that she go online and track the cellphone", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "that Epperson had given Roberts. Williams also told her that she could contact her", "paragraph_id": "para_116", "court_paragraph": 5 }, { "text": "cellphone provider if she had problems tracking the cellphone.", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "{¶ 15} Evidence introduced at trial showed that on July 30, Roberts stopped", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "at a Food Mart in Gaffney, South Carolina, at 7:24 (apparently in the morning) and", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "an Exxon gas station in Connelly Springs, North Carolina, at 9:25 a.m. And at 9:52", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "p.m., Roberts was standing at the front counter of the Glenway Avenue McDonald’s", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio—approximately 1.7 miles from Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "apartment.", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "C. Roberts’s Arrest in Indiana", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "{¶ 16} Lushin, who, as noted above, was a deputy with the Tipton County", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "Sheriff’s Office, was on patrol on July 31, 2019. Shortly after 7:00 p.m., he noticed", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "a car, a Honda CR-V, that was stopped in the grassy area next to a two-lane", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "highway—State Road 28 in Tipton County, Indiana.", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "{¶ 17} Lushin, who was equipped with a body-worn camera, approached", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "the car and spoke to the driver, who was later identified as Roberts. At the outset,", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "Roberts explained that the car was not disabled but that he had pulled over to", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "connect his cellphone to the car. Lushin asked Roberts where he was headed, and", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "he replied, “Wisconsin.” However, Roberts could not recall the name of the city", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "he was going to; he said he was just driving up there to “check[] it out.”", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "{¶ 18} Lushin asked Roberts for his identification, and Roberts responded", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "that he did not know where it was and that it was somewhere in his bag. Lushin", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "asked Roberts why he was so nervous, and Roberts said, “I don’t know. . . . It’s", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "just, I wasn’t expecting—like, I just pulled over and I was just—.” Lushin saw that", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "Roberts’s hands were shaking.", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "{¶ 19} Because Roberts did not produce identification, Lushin asked him", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "for his legal name and date of birth. At first, Roberts identified himself as “Eli B.", "paragraph_id": "para_141" }, { "text": "Blaine” and said he was 19 years old. Roberts then said that his name was Eli", "paragraph_id": "para_142" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_143" }, { "text": "6", "paragraph_id": "para_144" }, { "text": "Blaine, with no middle name. Roberts told Lushin only the month and day of his", "paragraph_id": "para_145", "court_paragraph": 6 }, { "text": "date of birth, July 3, but not the year. So Lushin confronted him about lying.", "paragraph_id": "para_146" }, { "text": "{¶ 20} Roberts responded by stating that he was in the process of changing", "paragraph_id": "para_147" }, { "text": "his name and that he was trying to get used to his new name but that his prior name", "paragraph_id": "para_148" }, { "text": "was Elijah Roberts. Roberts then gave Lushin his full date of birth and admitted", "paragraph_id": "para_149" }, { "text": "that he was 21 years old. Lushin asked Roberts who owned the car. Roberts stated", "paragraph_id": "para_150" }, { "text": "that it was his mother’s car, and when Lushin asked whether she knew he had the", "paragraph_id": "para_151" }, { "text": "car, Roberts said that she did.", "paragraph_id": "para_152" }, { "text": "{¶ 21} Lushin then asked Roberts a series of questions: why had he lied,", "paragraph_id": "para_153" }, { "text": "had he stolen the car, did he have outstanding warrants, was his license suspended,", "paragraph_id": "para_154" }, { "text": "was he a missing person, was he fleeing after committing a murder in Ohio. Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_155" }, { "text": "responded “no” to each of the questions. Thereafter, Lushin had the Tipton County", "paragraph_id": "para_156" }, { "text": "dispatcher search Roberts’s name and date of birth through several different state", "paragraph_id": "para_157" }, { "text": "databases, and thereby, he determined that Roberts’s license was under suspension.", "paragraph_id": "para_158" }, { "text": "{¶ 22} Lushin next asked Roberts for his mother’s name. Roberts said that", "paragraph_id": "para_159" }, { "text": "his mother’s name was Tracey Epperson and that she lived in Cincinnati, Ohio.", "paragraph_id": "para_160" }, { "text": "{¶ 23} The information that follows was recorded beginning at minute mark", "paragraph_id": "para_161" }, { "text": "15:59 of the video from Lushin’s body-worn camera. (This is the time in the video", "paragraph_id": "para_162" }, { "text": "at which the court of appeals determined that Roberts was in police custody and", "paragraph_id": "para_163" }, { "text": "therefore the time after which any statements Roberts made to Lushin were", "paragraph_id": "para_164" }, { "text": "custodial and were erroneously admitted by the trial court. 2024-Ohio-1604, ¶ 56", "paragraph_id": "para_165" }, { "text": "(1st Dist.).)", "paragraph_id": "para_166" }, { "text": "{¶ 24} Roberts gave Lushin permission to retrieve his cellphone from the", "paragraph_id": "para_167" }, { "text": "car. Lushin retrieved the cellphone and, while walking toward Roberts with", "paragraph_id": "para_168" }, { "text": "Roberts’s cellphone, Lushin asked him whose wallet was in the center console of", "paragraph_id": "para_169" }, { "text": "the car. Roberts said that it was his mother’s wallet. He explained that because she", "paragraph_id": "para_170" }, { "text": "had been in a hurry to unload groceries, she had left it in the center console, and he", "paragraph_id": "para_171" }, { "text": "said that he had not realized it was there until it was “too late.” Lushin handed the", "paragraph_id": "para_172" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_173" }, { "text": "7", "paragraph_id": "para_174" }, { "text": "cellphone to Roberts and asked him to pull up his mother’s phone number. At this", "paragraph_id": "para_175", "court_paragraph": 7 }, { "text": "point, Roberts said that she was actually his stepmother, not his mother.", "paragraph_id": "para_176" }, { "text": "{¶ 25} Roberts started to call Epperson, but Lushin told Roberts that he", "paragraph_id": "para_177" }, { "text": "would call her instead. Lushin inquired why Roberts did not have his stepmother’s", "paragraph_id": "para_178" }, { "text": "name saved in his cellphone, and Roberts replied that he had just reset it. Lushin", "paragraph_id": "para_179" }, { "text": "then left a voicemail message for Epperson and asked the Tipton County dispatcher", "paragraph_id": "para_180" }, { "text": "to try to get in touch with Epperson by calling her as many times as possible. Lushin", "paragraph_id": "para_181" }, { "text": "told Roberts that it was odd that his stepmother had given him permission to take", "paragraph_id": "para_182" }, { "text": "the car to Wisconsin but left her wallet in the center console. Lushin also noted to", "paragraph_id": "para_183" }, { "text": "Roberts that he had changed his story: Roberts first said that Epperson was his", "paragraph_id": "para_184" }, { "text": "mother and then he said she was his stepmother.", "paragraph_id": "para_185" }, { "text": "{¶ 26} Thereafter, Deputy William Cline, a K-9 handler, arrived with a", "paragraph_id": "para_186" }, { "text": "police canine. The canine alerted on the car, and because of the alert, Lushin and", "paragraph_id": "para_187" }, { "text": "Cline searched the car. Lushin first retrieved Epperson’s wallet from the car and", "paragraph_id": "para_188" }, { "text": "opened it. In the center of the wallet was a Kroger receipt, date-stamped July 31,", "paragraph_id": "para_189" }, { "text": "2019, and time-stamped 2:18 p.m. Epperson’s Ohio driver’s license, her credit", "paragraph_id": "para_190" }, { "text": "cards, and some cash were also in the wallet.", "paragraph_id": "para_191" }, { "text": "{¶ 27} As the search continued, Lushin asked the Tipton County dispatcher", "paragraph_id": "para_192" }, { "text": "to contact the Cincinnati Police Department to do a welfare check on Epperson. In", "paragraph_id": "para_193" }, { "text": "a backpack on the front passenger seat, Lushin found Roberts’s wallet and a", "paragraph_id": "para_194" }, { "text": "marijuana grinder. After a drug test on the contents of the grinder returned a", "paragraph_id": "para_195" }, { "text": "negative for marijuana, Lushin returned the marijuana grinder to a pink tub that was", "paragraph_id": "para_196" }, { "text": "on the front passenger side floorboard. Lushin then placed Roberts under arrest for", "paragraph_id": "para_197" }, { "text": "providing false information.", "paragraph_id": "para_198" }, { "text": "D. July 31 Wellness Check on Epperson", "paragraph_id": "para_199" }, { "text": "{¶ 28} The Tipton County dispatcher contacted the Cincinnati Police and", "paragraph_id": "para_200" }, { "text": "Fire Dispatch at 7:49 p.m. on July 31 (“first 9-1-1 call”). The Tipton County", "paragraph_id": "para_201" }, { "text": "dispatcher requested a wellness check on Epperson at her East Tower Drive", "paragraph_id": "para_202" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_203" }, { "text": "8", "paragraph_id": "para_204" }, { "text": "apartment because a Tipton County deputy had encountered a driver who was found", "paragraph_id": "para_205", "court_paragraph": 8 }, { "text": "to be in possession of Epperson’s car, her wallet, her Ohio driver’s license, and her", "paragraph_id": "para_206" }, { "text": "credit cards. The dispatcher further explained that she had attempted to contact", "paragraph_id": "para_207" }, { "text": "Epperson 11 times and that Epperson had not answered and had not called back.", "paragraph_id": "para_208" }, { "text": "{¶ 29} The Tipton County dispatcher called the Cincinnati Police and Fire", "paragraph_id": "para_209" }, { "text": "Dispatch again at 8:16 p.m. (“second 9-1-1 call”) to see if officers had conducted", "paragraph_id": "para_210" }, { "text": "the requested wellness check on Epperson. The Cincinnati dispatcher told the", "paragraph_id": "para_211" }, { "text": "Tipton County dispatcher that officers had not yet been dispatched because it was", "paragraph_id": "para_212" }, { "text": "a busy night, but he assured the Tipton County dispatcher that officers would", "paragraph_id": "para_213" }, { "text": "conduct a wellness check and that someone would call her back with the results.", "paragraph_id": "para_214" }, { "text": "The Tipton County dispatcher explained that the deputy was concerned about", "paragraph_id": "para_215" }, { "text": "Epperson because the person in possession of her car had lied about his identity and", "paragraph_id": "para_216" }, { "text": "because most of the property in the car belonged to Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_217" }, { "text": "{¶ 30} After the second 9-1-1 call, Cincinnati Police Officers Zachary", "paragraph_id": "para_218" }, { "text": "Kress and Naomi Simmons were dispatched at 8:54 p.m. to Epperson’s apartment", "paragraph_id": "para_219" }, { "text": "for a wellness check. The officers knocked on her door but got no answer. After", "paragraph_id": "para_220" }, { "text": "confirming with their supervisor that they did not have authority to enter the", "paragraph_id": "para_221" }, { "text": "apartment, they left.", "paragraph_id": "para_222" }, { "text": "E. August 1 Wellness Check on Epperson", "paragraph_id": "para_223" }, { "text": "{¶ 31} On August 1, Marian Sims, Epperson’s sister who lives in", "paragraph_id": "para_224" }, { "text": "Fredericksburg, Virginia, called Cincinnati Police and Fire Dispatch asking for a", "paragraph_id": "para_225" }, { "text": "wellness check on Epperson (“Marian Sims’s 9-1-1 call”). She told the dispatcher", "paragraph_id": "para_226" }, { "text": "that she had received a call informing her that Epperson had not shown up for work", "paragraph_id": "para_227" }, { "text": "and that that was uncharacteristic of her. She explained that she had attempted to", "paragraph_id": "para_228" }, { "text": "contact Epperson by phone but that there was no answer.", "paragraph_id": "para_229" }, { "text": "{¶ 32} Cincinnati Police Officers Andrew Snape and Austin Lee were", "paragraph_id": "para_230" }, { "text": "dispatched to Epperson’s apartment for a wellness check at 1:27 p.m. on August 1.", "paragraph_id": "para_231" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_232" }, { "text": "9", "paragraph_id": "para_233" }, { "text": "Snape’s body-worn camera was activated when the officers got out of the police", "paragraph_id": "para_234", "court_paragraph": 9 }, { "text": "cruiser.", "paragraph_id": "para_235" }, { "text": "{¶ 33} Snape and Lee entered the apartment building, went to Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_236" }, { "text": "door, and knocked twice. Snape then noticed that the door was “cracked slightly", "paragraph_id": "para_237" }, { "text": "open,” so he opened the door and announced their presence.", "paragraph_id": "para_238" }, { "text": "{¶ 34} Snape’s body-worn camera captured the scene. Epperson was lying", "paragraph_id": "para_239" }, { "text": "face down with a white purse strap around her neck and a plastic bag over her head.", "paragraph_id": "para_240" }, { "text": "Snape called his supervisor and the Cincinnati Fire Department.", "paragraph_id": "para_241" }, { "text": "{¶ 35} Paramedics from the Cincinnati Fire Department were dispatched to", "paragraph_id": "para_242" }, { "text": "Epperson’s apartment. Finding that Epperson had no signs of life, the paramedics", "paragraph_id": "para_243" }, { "text": "turned the scene over to the police. The officers secured the scene until the", "paragraph_id": "para_244" }, { "text": "homicide detectives arrived.", "paragraph_id": "para_245" }, { "text": "F. The Investigation and Indictment", "paragraph_id": "para_246" }, { "text": "{¶ 36} Homicide Detective Kimberly Ann Kelley and Detective Kurt", "paragraph_id": "para_247" }, { "text": "Ballman, along with Criminalists Jennifer Lane and Derek Foote, all Cincinnati", "paragraph_id": "para_248" }, { "text": "Police Department employees, arrived at Epperson’s apartment around 3:00 p.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_249" }, { "text": "Once there, the detectives and the criminalists met outside the apartment with Snape", "paragraph_id": "para_250" }, { "text": "and Lee to get a brief synopsis of why the officers had been dispatched to the scene", "paragraph_id": "para_251" }, { "text": "and what they had observed.", "paragraph_id": "para_252" }, { "text": "{¶ 37} The detectives entered the apartment, surveyed the scene, and looked", "paragraph_id": "para_253" }, { "text": "around the entire apartment. The criminalists then began processing the scene (i.e.,", "paragraph_id": "para_254" }, { "text": "taking pictures and collecting evidence), and the detectives pointed out items to be", "paragraph_id": "para_255" }, { "text": "photographed that they thought could be significant. The detectives then went to", "paragraph_id": "para_256" }, { "text": "the surrounding apartments to see if there had been any witnesses, but they did not", "paragraph_id": "para_257" }, { "text": "find any.", "paragraph_id": "para_258" }, { "text": "{¶ 38} Kelley’s supervisor arrived on the scene thereafter and informed the", "paragraph_id": "para_259" }, { "text": "detectives that on July 31, officers had been dispatched to conduct a wellness check", "paragraph_id": "para_260" }, { "text": "on Epperson because her son, Roberts, had been stopped on the side of a road in", "paragraph_id": "para_261" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_262" }, { "text": "10", "paragraph_id": "para_263" }, { "text": "Indiana in her car and had lied about his identity to the deputy who had approached", "paragraph_id": "para_264", "court_paragraph": 10 }, { "text": "the car to see if he needed help. The detectives were also informed that Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_265" }, { "text": "wallet, driver’s license, and credit cards had been found in the car. Kelley", "paragraph_id": "para_266" }, { "text": "subsequently talked to Lushin and watched the video of his interaction with", "paragraph_id": "para_267" }, { "text": "Roberts. The detectives and Criminalist Jimmy Pham then traveled to Tipton,", "paragraph_id": "para_268" }, { "text": "Indiana, to process Epperson’s car.", "paragraph_id": "para_269" }, { "text": "{¶ 39} During the investigation, the detectives learned that Roberts had", "paragraph_id": "para_270" }, { "text": "taken his aunt’s Honda Pilot on July 29. That car was found by police on August", "paragraph_id": "para_271" }, { "text": "1 in the parking lot adjacent to Epperson’s apartment building, and it was towed to", "paragraph_id": "para_272" }, { "text": "the Cincinnati Police Department garage, where it was processed by a criminalist.", "paragraph_id": "para_273" }, { "text": "{¶ 40} On August 9, 2019, Roberts was indicted on two counts of", "paragraph_id": "para_274" }, { "text": "aggravated murder—one in violation of R.C. 2903.01(A) and the other in violation", "paragraph_id": "para_275" }, { "text": "of R.C. 2903.01(B), one count of aggravated robbery in violation of R.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_276" }, { "text": "2911.01(A)(3), one count of tampering with evidence in violation of R.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_277" }, { "text": "2921.12(A)(1), and one count of receiving stolen property in violation of R.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_278" }, { "text": "2913.51(A).", "paragraph_id": "para_279" }, { "text": "II. THE TRIAL AND APPEALS", "paragraph_id": "para_280" }, { "text": "A. Pretrial Motions", "paragraph_id": "para_281" }, { "text": "{¶ 41} Prior to trial, Roberts moved to suppress the statements he had made", "paragraph_id": "para_282" }, { "text": "to Lushin, asserting that he was in police custody when he made the statements and", "paragraph_id": "para_283" }, { "text": "had not been given Miranda warnings. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436", "paragraph_id": "para_284" }, { "text": "(1966). He asserted violations of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the", "paragraph_id": "para_285" }, { "text": "United States Constitution and Article I, Section 10 of the Ohio Constitution. The", "paragraph_id": "para_286" }, { "text": "trial court ruled that Roberts’s statements made during the first 43 minutes and 49", "paragraph_id": "para_287" }, { "text": "seconds of the 55 minute and 18 second encounter were admissible.", "paragraph_id": "para_288" }, { "text": "{¶ 42} Roberts also filed a motion in limine to exclude the portion of the", "paragraph_id": "para_289" }, { "text": "video from Lushin’s body-worn camera during which Lushin said to another deputy", "paragraph_id": "para_290" }, { "text": "that based on Roberts’s behavior, Lushin thought Roberts had just killed his mother.", "paragraph_id": "para_291" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_292" }, { "text": "11", "paragraph_id": "para_293" }, { "text": "The trial court granted the motion in limine to exclude that portion of the video.", "paragraph_id": "para_294", "court_paragraph": 11 }, { "text": "But the trial court denied Roberts’s motion to suppress the portion of the video", "paragraph_id": "para_295" }, { "text": "during which Lushin asked Roberts, “Did you commit a murder in Ohio and you’re", "paragraph_id": "para_296" }, { "text": "trying to get away?” (Roberts did not respond to the question on the video.)", "paragraph_id": "para_297" }, { "text": "{¶ 43} Roberts also moved to sever count five of the indictment—the count", "paragraph_id": "para_298" }, { "text": "charging receiving stolen property—from the other counts. He alleged that that", "paragraph_id": "para_299" }, { "text": "count, which charged an offense related to his aunt’s car, was not sufficiently", "paragraph_id": "para_300" }, { "text": "related to the other four counts to be charged in the same indictment. Because the", "paragraph_id": "para_301" }, { "text": "trial court denied the motion for severance, Roberts waived a jury trial on count", "paragraph_id": "para_302" }, { "text": "five of the indictment on September 20, 2022—the first day of trial. Roberts signed", "paragraph_id": "para_303" }, { "text": "the waiver, and after the colloquy to ensure that Roberts understood that that count", "paragraph_id": "para_304" }, { "text": "would be tried to the judge, not a jury, the court accepted Roberts’s waiver of a jury", "paragraph_id": "para_305" }, { "text": "trial as to count five.", "paragraph_id": "para_306" }, { "text": "{¶ 44} Defense counsel made an oral motion in limine to exclude any other-", "paragraph_id": "para_307" }, { "text": "acts testimony from Williams regarding the receiving-stolen-property count. The", "paragraph_id": "para_308" }, { "text": "State argued against the motion.", "paragraph_id": "para_309" }, { "text": "{¶ 45} The trial court denied the motion to exclude Williams’s testimony", "paragraph_id": "para_310" }, { "text": "about the events that occurred in Augusta, holding that its probative value", "paragraph_id": "para_311" }, { "text": "outweighed any prejudicial effect; the trial court did indicate that a limiting", "paragraph_id": "para_312" }, { "text": "instruction would be given to the jury, however. Defense counsel renewed their", "paragraph_id": "para_313" }, { "text": "objection to Williams’s testimony during the trial, but the trial court overruled the", "paragraph_id": "para_314" }, { "text": "objection.", "paragraph_id": "para_315" }, { "text": "{¶ 46} The State and defense counsel then stipulated to the authenticity and", "paragraph_id": "para_316" }, { "text": "admissibility of the three 9-1-1 calls and a July 31 Kroger surveillance video.", "paragraph_id": "para_317" }, { "text": "B. Testimony and Other Evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_318" }, { "text": "{¶ 47} At trial, Williams recounted the events leading up to Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_319" }, { "text": "leaving her residence on July 29, 2019. She also explained why Roberts had been", "paragraph_id": "para_320" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_321" }, { "text": "12", "paragraph_id": "para_322" }, { "text": "living with her at that time, and she described her relationship with Roberts and", "paragraph_id": "para_323", "court_paragraph": 12 }, { "text": "Epperson’s relationship with Roberts.", "paragraph_id": "para_324" }, { "text": "{¶ 48} In June 2019, Williams attended the wedding of Roberts’s brother,", "paragraph_id": "para_325" }, { "text": "and she noticed that there were problems between Roberts and other family", "paragraph_id": "para_326" }, { "text": "members. Roberts had recently come out to his family as gay, and Williams", "paragraph_id": "para_327" }, { "text": "thought that that was one of the reasons for the problems. So Williams invited", "paragraph_id": "para_328" }, { "text": "Roberts to go back to Augusta, Georgia, with her for a while. Williams believed", "paragraph_id": "para_329" }, { "text": "that she and Roberts had a pleasant, cordial relationship. They often did things", "paragraph_id": "para_330" }, { "text": "together, such as go to the gym and go shopping. And on the day that Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_331" }, { "text": "abruptly left her home, the two had not had a fight. Williams also stated that she", "paragraph_id": "para_332" }, { "text": "would not have permitted Roberts to leave with her car, because he did not have a", "paragraph_id": "para_333" }, { "text": "driver’s license.", "paragraph_id": "para_334" }, { "text": "{¶ 49} As for Epperson’s relationship with Roberts, Williams testified that", "paragraph_id": "para_335" }, { "text": "she could only say what she had seen. She said that while Roberts was living with", "paragraph_id": "para_336" }, { "text": "her, Epperson and Roberts talked on the phone every week and had a “very cordial", "paragraph_id": "para_337" }, { "text": "relationship; very loving.” Williams said that Epperson was very involved in", "paragraph_id": "para_338" }, { "text": "Roberts’s life—she paid his cellphone bill and the rent for an apartment in Toledo", "paragraph_id": "para_339" }, { "text": "that Roberts no longer lived in, and she sent him money every week.", "paragraph_id": "para_340" }, { "text": "{¶ 50} But when pressed for more information about Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_341" }, { "text": "relationship with Roberts, Williams said that she did not know the details of their", "paragraph_id": "para_342" }, { "text": "relationship. She did not know whether Epperson had always been present in", "paragraph_id": "para_343" }, { "text": "Roberts’s life. Williams explained: “I was in the military, and I always lived away", "paragraph_id": "para_344" }, { "text": "from, like, the family, so, you know, I don’t know details about—specific details", "paragraph_id": "para_345" }, { "text": "about, you know, their life. Even though I kept in contact, I just always lived", "paragraph_id": "para_346" }, { "text": "away.”", "paragraph_id": "para_347" }, { "text": "{¶ 51} Williams testified that she had never heard Roberts express any ill", "paragraph_id": "para_348" }, { "text": "will toward Epperson or heard Epperson express any fear of him. But in the six", "paragraph_id": "para_349" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_350" }, { "text": "13", "paragraph_id": "para_351" }, { "text": "weeks that Roberts lived with her in Augusta, Williams noticed him exhibiting", "paragraph_id": "para_352", "court_paragraph": 13 }, { "text": "unusual behavior, including having frequent conversations with himself.", "paragraph_id": "para_353" }, { "text": "{¶ 52} Next, Cincinnati Police Officer Kress testified about the wellness", "paragraph_id": "para_354" }, { "text": "check that he and his partner made at Epperson’s apartment on July 31 at 9:04 p.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_355" }, { "text": "The prosecutor played the two 9-1-1 calls that the Cincinnati Police and Fire", "paragraph_id": "para_356" }, { "text": "Dispatch received from the Tipton County dispatcher, and Kress confirmed that", "paragraph_id": "para_357" }, { "text": "those were the calls that resulted in his being dispatched to Epperson’s apartment.", "paragraph_id": "para_358" }, { "text": "{¶ 53} Kress testified that he had knocked several times on the apartment", "paragraph_id": "para_359" }, { "text": "door but got no answer. He then turned the doorknob, and it turned. He called his", "paragraph_id": "para_360" }, { "text": "supervisor and was told that he could not enter the apartment, so the officers left.", "paragraph_id": "para_361" }, { "text": "{¶ 54} Next, Snape, a Cincinnati Police sergeant at the time of trial, testified", "paragraph_id": "para_362" }, { "text": "that he and Officer Lee were dispatched on August 1 at 1:27 p.m. for a wellness", "paragraph_id": "para_363" }, { "text": "check at Epperson’s apartment. He confirmed that the dispatch resulted from", "paragraph_id": "para_364" }, { "text": "Marian Sims’s 9-1-1 call, and that 9-1-1 call was played for the jury.", "paragraph_id": "para_365" }, { "text": "{¶ 55} Snape recounted that after knocking on the door, he noticed that it", "paragraph_id": "para_366" }, { "text": "was “cracked slightly open, just a little bit,” so he opened the door. He described", "paragraph_id": "para_367" }, { "text": "what he saw when he opened the door: Epperson’s body was lying a few feet from", "paragraph_id": "para_368" }, { "text": "the door, face down with a plastic bag over the head; groceries were scattered on", "paragraph_id": "para_369" }, { "text": "the floor; and a chair was broken. The video from Snape’s body-worn camera was", "paragraph_id": "para_370" }, { "text": "then played for the jury.", "paragraph_id": "para_371" }, { "text": "{¶ 56} Snape testified that he had known as soon as he opened the door that", "paragraph_id": "para_372" }, { "text": "he and Lee had walked into the scene of a homicide. It was evident to Snape that a", "paragraph_id": "para_373" }, { "text": "violent struggle had taken place the moment Epperson walked into her apartment", "paragraph_id": "para_374" }, { "text": "carrying her groceries. He described the scene in more detail. He said that a white", "paragraph_id": "para_375" }, { "text": "purse strap was around Epperson’s neck. Some groceries were in bags on the floor", "paragraph_id": "para_376" }, { "text": "and others had spilled out, the dining table appeared to be displaced from its normal", "paragraph_id": "para_377" }, { "text": "position, and one of the wooden dining chairs was broken—the legs and the back", "paragraph_id": "para_378" }, { "text": "of the chair were no longer attached to the seat.", "paragraph_id": "para_379" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_380" }, { "text": "14", "paragraph_id": "para_381" }, { "text": "{¶ 57} Next, Cincinnati Fire Department Paramedic Kurt Baker testified", "paragraph_id": "para_382", "court_paragraph": 14 }, { "text": "that he and other paramedics on the scene verified that Epperson was deceased, and", "paragraph_id": "para_383" }, { "text": "he noted that the situation surrounding Epperson’s death looked suspicious. Baker", "paragraph_id": "para_384" }, { "text": "explained the methods that paramedics use to assess how long a person has been", "paragraph_id": "para_385" }, { "text": "deceased, such as checking for rigor mortis (the temporary rigidity of muscles after", "paragraph_id": "para_386" }, { "text": "death) and lividity (the discoloration of the skin after death). He explained that", "paragraph_id": "para_387" }, { "text": "rigor mortis occurs because the muscles tense up over time after death and that", "paragraph_id": "para_388" }, { "text": "lividity occurs because when the heart stops, blood ceases circulating, the pressure", "paragraph_id": "para_389" }, { "text": "in a person’s circulation system drops, and gravity causes the blood to pool in the", "paragraph_id": "para_390" }, { "text": "lowest point of the body. Lividity presents like a bruise.", "paragraph_id": "para_391" }, { "text": "{¶ 58} Baker said that another paramedic had lifted Epperson’s arm,", "paragraph_id": "para_392" }, { "text": "observed that the skin was cold to the touch, and confirmed that both rigor mortis", "paragraph_id": "para_393" }, { "text": "and lividity had set in. Based on those cursory findings, Baker opined that", "paragraph_id": "para_394" }, { "text": "Epperson had been dead for at least 3 to 12 hours.", "paragraph_id": "para_395" }, { "text": "{¶ 59} Next, Officer Lushin, who had transitioned to working for the", "paragraph_id": "para_396" }, { "text": "Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department by the time of the trial, recounted his", "paragraph_id": "para_397" }, { "text": "contact with Roberts on July 31, 2019, when he was a deputy at the Tipton County", "paragraph_id": "para_398" }, { "text": "Sheriff's Office. Lushin described Tipton County as a small rural community, and", "paragraph_id": "para_399" }, { "text": "he said that the county’s largest city is Tipton, which is a two-and-a-half-hour drive", "paragraph_id": "para_400" }, { "text": "from Cincinnati.", "paragraph_id": "para_401" }, { "text": "{¶ 60} On July 31, at 7:00 p.m., Lushin was traveling west on State Road", "paragraph_id": "para_402" }, { "text": "28 when he observed a Honda CR-V stopped alongside the highway. State Road", "paragraph_id": "para_403" }, { "text": "28 is a very busy two-lane highway that runs through Tipton; it does not have a", "paragraph_id": "para_404" }, { "text": "shoulder, so the car was to the right of the road in a grassy area. Lushin pulled", "paragraph_id": "para_405" }, { "text": "behind the car and activated the lights of his patrol car for his safety and the safety", "paragraph_id": "para_406" }, { "text": "of other motorists, and he then performed a wellness check on the driver, Roberts.", "paragraph_id": "para_407" }, { "text": "Lushin testified as to his interaction with Roberts, and the video from his body-", "paragraph_id": "para_408" }, { "text": "worn camera was played for the jury.", "paragraph_id": "para_409" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_410" }, { "text": "15", "paragraph_id": "para_411" }, { "text": "{¶ 61} Lushin testified that as he walked up to the driver’s side of the car,", "paragraph_id": "para_412", "court_paragraph": 15 }, { "text": "he observed that Roberts “was very, very nervous, overly nervous, for not being", "paragraph_id": "para_413" }, { "text": "pulled over, but just being on the side of the road.” Lushin asked Roberts why he", "paragraph_id": "para_414" }, { "text": "was so nervous, and Roberts said he did not know.", "paragraph_id": "para_415" }, { "text": "{¶ 62} Initially, Roberts said he had identification in a backpack, but he", "paragraph_id": "para_416" }, { "text": "never made any attempt to retrieve it. Lushin recounted his conversation with", "paragraph_id": "para_417" }, { "text": "Roberts: Lushin had asked for his name and had confirmed with him that “Eli” was", "paragraph_id": "para_418" }, { "text": "his legal first name and “Blaine” was his last name. When he asked Roberts how", "paragraph_id": "para_419" }, { "text": "old he was, Roberts did not look at him but instead looked forward, paused, and", "paragraph_id": "para_420" }, { "text": "said that he was 19 years old. However, Roberts provided Lushin with only the", "paragraph_id": "para_421" }, { "text": "month and the day of his birthday, July 3, without giving a year. Lushin testified", "paragraph_id": "para_422" }, { "text": "that at that point, based on his “training and experience,” he believed that Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_423" }, { "text": "was lying about his identity, so he asked Roberts why he was lying to him. Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_424" }, { "text": "then told Lushin that his name was “Elijah Blaine Roberts,” and he gave Lushin his", "paragraph_id": "para_425" }, { "text": "correct date of birth.", "paragraph_id": "para_426" }, { "text": "{¶ 63} Lushin provided this information to the dispatcher, who checked", "paragraph_id": "para_427" }, { "text": "several states and relayed to Lushin that Roberts did not have driving privileges.", "paragraph_id": "para_428" }, { "text": "The dispatcher also told Lushin that the Honda CR-V was registered in Ohio and", "paragraph_id": "para_429" }, { "text": "belonged to Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_430" }, { "text": "{¶ 64} Lushin noted that Roberts’s statement that he was traveling to", "paragraph_id": "para_431" }, { "text": "Wisconsin was suspicious to him for several reasons: Roberts was unable to say", "paragraph_id": "para_432" }, { "text": "where in Wisconsin he was going, State Road 28 is “not conducive for the route of", "paragraph_id": "para_433" }, { "text": "travel to go from Ohio to Wisconsin,” and there was no luggage in the car.", "paragraph_id": "para_434" }, { "text": "{¶ 65} Additionally, according to Lushin, when he, with Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_435" }, { "text": "permission, retrieved Roberts’s cellphone from the car so that he could access", "paragraph_id": "para_436" }, { "text": "Epperson’s phone number, Lushin confirmed that it was a “woman’s pocketbook,", "paragraph_id": "para_437" }, { "text": "like a wallet,” that he had observed from outside the car in the center console.", "paragraph_id": "para_438" }, { "text": "Lushin asked Roberts whose wallet was in the center console, and he said it was his", "paragraph_id": "para_439" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_440" }, { "text": "16", "paragraph_id": "para_441" }, { "text": "mother’s. Lushin asked if she had given it to him, and Roberts said he had taken", "paragraph_id": "para_442", "court_paragraph": 16 }, { "text": "the car while she was unloading groceries, and the wallet had been left inside the", "paragraph_id": "para_443" }, { "text": "center console and he had not noticed it was there “until it was too late.”", "paragraph_id": "para_444" }, { "text": "{¶ 66} It was only after the canine alerted on the car, however, that Lushin", "paragraph_id": "para_445" }, { "text": "retrieved the wallet and opened it. Lushin testified that the wallet contained", "paragraph_id": "para_446" }, { "text": "Epperson’s Ohio driver’s license and credit cards, along with receipts and cash.", "paragraph_id": "para_447" }, { "text": "Lushin then explained that after he located Epperson’s wallet, he and the dispatcher", "paragraph_id": "para_448" }, { "text": "made numerous attempts to contact Epperson by phone. Lushin said that he noticed", "paragraph_id": "para_449" }, { "text": "that when he handed Roberts his cellphone and asked him to pull up his mother’s", "paragraph_id": "para_450" }, { "text": "phone number, Roberts had typed in her number. Lushin asked why the number", "paragraph_id": "para_451" }, { "text": "was not saved in his phone, and Roberts said that he had “recently reset” the", "paragraph_id": "para_452" }, { "text": "cellphone. Roberts also then said that Epperson was his stepmother, not his mother.", "paragraph_id": "para_453" }, { "text": "At this point, the attempts to contact Epperson by phone had failed, so Lushin asked", "paragraph_id": "para_454" }, { "text": "the Tipton County dispatcher to call the Cincinnati Police Department to conduct a", "paragraph_id": "para_455" }, { "text": "wellness check on Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_456" }, { "text": "{¶ 67} At trial, Lushin identified a series of photographs of Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_457" }, { "text": "Honda CR-V and some of the contents of the car, including Epperson’s wallet, her", "paragraph_id": "para_458" }, { "text": "Ohio driver’s license, Roberts’s South Carolina state identification card, Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_459" }, { "text": "backpack, and the marijuana grinder. Finally, Lushin admitted that the drug test", "paragraph_id": "para_460" }, { "text": "performed on the grinder was negative for marijuana, but he indicated that Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_461" }, { "text": "had been placed under arrest because he had provided a false name to law", "paragraph_id": "para_462" }, { "text": "enforcement, which he said is a crime in Indiana.", "paragraph_id": "para_463" }, { "text": "{¶ 68} Next, Criminalist Lane testified. She explained that criminalists", "paragraph_id": "para_464" }, { "text": "process crime scenes for homicide investigations, personal-crime cases, and bank", "paragraph_id": "para_465" }, { "text": "robberies. She said that criminalists process a crime scene by photographing the", "paragraph_id": "para_466" }, { "text": "scene and collecting evidence, including biological evidence and fingerprints.", "paragraph_id": "para_467" }, { "text": "{¶ 69} Lane testified that she and Criminalist Foote photographed the whole", "paragraph_id": "para_468" }, { "text": "scene as it existed, untouched, to “fairly and accurately” depict the scene. After", "paragraph_id": "para_469" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_470" }, { "text": "17", "paragraph_id": "para_471" }, { "text": "photographing the scene as they had found it, the criminalists took a second series", "paragraph_id": "para_472", "court_paragraph": 17 }, { "text": "of photographs, this time with identifying placards with numbers on them to", "paragraph_id": "para_473" }, { "text": "indicate different pieces of evidence that might be of value in the investigation.", "paragraph_id": "para_474" }, { "text": "{¶ 70} Lane identified an aerial photograph of Epperson’s apartment", "paragraph_id": "para_475" }, { "text": "building and the surrounding neighborhood. The photograph had two “Xs,” one", "paragraph_id": "para_476" }, { "text": "marking the apartment building and the other marking the nearby McDonald’s", "paragraph_id": "para_477" }, { "text": "restaurant on Glenway Avenue where Roberts had ordered food on the evening of", "paragraph_id": "para_478" }, { "text": "July 30. She also identified the photographs that she said fairly and accurately", "paragraph_id": "para_479" }, { "text": "depicted the murder scene as she found it on August 1, and the pictures were entered", "paragraph_id": "para_480" }, { "text": "into evidence as exhibits.", "paragraph_id": "para_481" }, { "text": "{¶ 71} Lane testified that when she and Foote entered Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_482" }, { "text": "apartment, Epperson’s body was “lying immediately to the right of the entry door.”", "paragraph_id": "para_483" }, { "text": "Epperson was lying face down on the floor with a white leather-like purse strap", "paragraph_id": "para_484" }, { "text": "around her neck and a plastic bag on her head. Lane said that she could tell that the", "paragraph_id": "para_485" }, { "text": "dining table had been moved from its usual place, and she noted that one dining", "paragraph_id": "para_486" }, { "text": "chair was broken—two of its legs were to the right of Epperson’s body and one leg", "paragraph_id": "para_487" }, { "text": "was underneath the table with the seat of the chair—another chair was lying on the", "paragraph_id": "para_488" }, { "text": "floor, and a third chair was tilted back. Plastic grocery bags containing groceries", "paragraph_id": "para_489" }, { "text": "were strewn on the floor around Epperson’s body. Groceries had spilled out of", "paragraph_id": "para_490" }, { "text": "some of the bags, and fresh vegetables and fruit were crushed into the carpet. Lane", "paragraph_id": "para_491" }, { "text": "noted that one of the pictures showed that the lock on the apartment door did not", "paragraph_id": "para_492" }, { "text": "appear to have been tampered with or damaged.", "paragraph_id": "para_493" }, { "text": "{¶ 72} Lane testified that the white leather-like strap that was around", "paragraph_id": "para_494" }, { "text": "Epperson’s neck matched the purse that was sitting on the dining table. The purse", "paragraph_id": "para_495" }, { "text": "was the same color and had the same leather-like texture as the strap, and it had", "paragraph_id": "para_496" }, { "text": "places to attach the clips that were on both ends of the strap. When the coroner", "paragraph_id": "para_497" }, { "text": "arrived, Epperson’s body was rolled over and more photographs were taken. The", "paragraph_id": "para_498" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_499" }, { "text": "18", "paragraph_id": "para_500" }, { "text": "photographs showed that the purse strap was around the front of Epperson’s neck", "paragraph_id": "para_501", "court_paragraph": 18 }, { "text": "and that the plastic trash bag was covering Epperson’s head.", "paragraph_id": "para_502" }, { "text": "{¶ 73} Under Epperson’s body were parts from the broken chair, smashed", "paragraph_id": "para_503" }, { "text": "tomatoes and blueberries, and a broken pair of eyeglasses. There were gouges in", "paragraph_id": "para_504" }, { "text": "the wall that appeared to have been made when Epperson and/or the chair fell", "paragraph_id": "para_505" }, { "text": "against it. Additionally, a Jimmy John’s bag, with a single sandwich and a single", "paragraph_id": "para_506" }, { "text": "bag of chips, was inside a Kroger bag. The receipt showed that the sandwich and", "paragraph_id": "para_507" }, { "text": "chips were purchased with cash on July 31, 2019, at 2:31 p.m. from the Glenway", "paragraph_id": "para_508" }, { "text": "Avenue Jimmy John’s.", "paragraph_id": "para_509" }, { "text": "{¶ 74} The criminalists then took pictures of the rest of the apartment. Lane", "paragraph_id": "para_510" }, { "text": "noted that the apartment had not been ransacked.", "paragraph_id": "para_511" }, { "text": "{¶ 75} Lane next explained a picture documenting an open cabinet under", "paragraph_id": "para_512" }, { "text": "the kitchen sink with a box of trash bags protruding from the cabinet; Lane said that", "paragraph_id": "para_513" }, { "text": "the bags appeared to match the bag that was over Epperson’s head.", "paragraph_id": "para_514" }, { "text": "{¶ 76} Near the couch in the living-room area was a clipboard holding", "paragraph_id": "para_515" }, { "text": "several sheets of paper. One sheet had notes on how to locate a cellphone. Another", "paragraph_id": "para_516" }, { "text": "was dated July 31, 2019, and listed a jail and hospitals in Georgia with notes", "paragraph_id": "para_517" }, { "text": "indicating that Epperson had called them in an attempt to locate Roberts. A third", "paragraph_id": "para_518" }, { "text": "had “findmymobilesamsung.com” written on it. Also written on that sheet was an", "paragraph_id": "para_519" }, { "text": "email address for Roberts and the words “won’t show location if phone is powered", "paragraph_id": "para_520" }, { "text": "off or data is turned off.”", "paragraph_id": "para_521" }, { "text": "{¶ 77} On the dining-room table was a white leather-like Franco Sarto", "paragraph_id": "para_522" }, { "text": "purse. The white leather-like strap around Epperson’s neck, which was later", "paragraph_id": "para_523" }, { "text": "removed by the coroner, had the same brand name, Franco Sarto, on it. The purse", "paragraph_id": "para_524" }, { "text": "contained a cellphone, cellphone charger, two sets of keys—one for Epperson’s car", "paragraph_id": "para_525" }, { "text": "and others for her apartment—personal papers, and miscellaneous items like lotion,", "paragraph_id": "para_526" }, { "text": "a case for glasses, a small notebook, and a bus schedule. Notably, there was no", "paragraph_id": "para_527" }, { "text": "wallet in the purse.", "paragraph_id": "para_528" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_529" }, { "text": "19", "paragraph_id": "para_530" }, { "text": "{¶ 78} Lane and Foote swabbed six different items in Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_531", "court_paragraph": 19 }, { "text": "apartment, and the swabs were sent for DNA testing.", "paragraph_id": "para_532" }, { "text": "{¶ 79} Lane also processed Williams’s Honda Pilot that had been located in", "paragraph_id": "para_533" }, { "text": "the parking lot adjacent to Epperson’s apartment building. Lane identified the", "paragraph_id": "para_534" }, { "text": "photographs that she had taken of the exterior and interior of the car and they were", "paragraph_id": "para_535" }, { "text": "introduced into evidence.", "paragraph_id": "para_536" }, { "text": "{¶ 80} Lane testified that she found a debit card in the center-console area", "paragraph_id": "para_537" }, { "text": "with the name “Elijah Roberts” on it. Also in the center-console area were a", "paragraph_id": "para_538" }, { "text": "McDonald’s receipt from the Glenway Avenue location, dated July 30, 2019, and", "paragraph_id": "para_539" }, { "text": "time-stamped 9:52 p.m. and a receipt from an Exxon gas station in Connelly", "paragraph_id": "para_540" }, { "text": "Springs, North Carolina, date-stamped July 30, 2019, and time-stamped 9:25 a.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_541" }, { "text": "{¶ 81} In the back seat of the car was a suitcase containing personal items,", "paragraph_id": "para_542" }, { "text": "including clothes. In the pocket of a pair of pants, Lane found a receipt from a Food", "paragraph_id": "para_543" }, { "text": "Mart in Gaffney, South Carolina, dated July 30, 2019, time-stamped 7:24, and", "paragraph_id": "para_544" }, { "text": "indicating that the customer paid with a card bearing an account number ending in", "paragraph_id": "para_545" }, { "text": "0721. Lane also swabbed four different areas of the Honda Pilot for DNA, and she", "paragraph_id": "para_546" }, { "text": "dusted the driver’s side door frame for fingerprints.", "paragraph_id": "para_547" }, { "text": "{¶ 82} Next, Criminalist Pham testified. He worked for the Cincinnati", "paragraph_id": "para_548" }, { "text": "Police Department in August 2019 and processed Epperson’s Honda CR-V in", "paragraph_id": "para_549" }, { "text": "Tipton County, Indiana. Pham identified the photographs he had taken of the", "paragraph_id": "para_550" }, { "text": "exterior and interior of the car and the car’s contents, and the photographs were", "paragraph_id": "para_551" }, { "text": "admitted as exhibits.", "paragraph_id": "para_552" }, { "text": "{¶ 83} On the front passenger seat, Pham found Epperson’s wallet (this is", "paragraph_id": "para_553" }, { "text": "where Lushin had left it after he removed it from the center console and searched", "paragraph_id": "para_554" }, { "text": "it), a backpack, a laptop computer, and a set of keys. On the floorboard of the front", "paragraph_id": "para_555" }, { "text": "passenger compartment was what Pham described as a “pink square tub.” And on", "paragraph_id": "para_556" }, { "text": "top of the pink tub was the receipt from the Glenway Avenue Kroger dated July 31,", "paragraph_id": "para_557" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_558" }, { "text": "20", "paragraph_id": "para_559" }, { "text": "2019, and time-stamped 2:18 p.m. that had been in Epperson’s wallet when Lushin", "paragraph_id": "para_560", "court_paragraph": 20 }, { "text": "opened it.", "paragraph_id": "para_561" }, { "text": "{¶ 84} In the back seat, Pham found additional items, including a leather", "paragraph_id": "para_562" }, { "text": "binder, a tub full of various items, an orange fanny pack, loose change on the", "paragraph_id": "para_563" }, { "text": "floorboard, and some books. In the rear compartment were plastic bags containing", "paragraph_id": "para_564" }, { "text": "clothing and two plastic tubs filled with various items. One of the plastic tubs", "paragraph_id": "para_565" }, { "text": "contained a laundry-detergent container full of coins. A GPS unit was also found", "paragraph_id": "para_566" }, { "text": "in the car.", "paragraph_id": "para_567" }, { "text": "{¶ 85} Pham then explained that he processed numerous items from the", "paragraph_id": "para_568" }, { "text": "Honda CR-V at the lab, including the backpack from the front passenger seat.", "paragraph_id": "para_569" }, { "text": "Inside the backpack were a set of keys that included a key to Epperson’s apartment,", "paragraph_id": "para_570" }, { "text": "a wallet with numerous cards bearing Roberts’s name, and a book, The Egyptian", "paragraph_id": "para_571" }, { "text": "Cat Mystery, containing an envelope marking a specific page in the book. The", "paragraph_id": "para_572" }, { "text": "illustration on that page is of a man lying on the ground on his back and another", "paragraph_id": "para_573" }, { "text": "man standing over him strangling him with his bare hands.", "paragraph_id": "para_574" }, { "text": "{¶ 86} Pham also testified that based on the contents of the wallet from the", "paragraph_id": "para_575" }, { "text": "backpack, it was clear that the wallet belonged to Roberts. The leather binder and", "paragraph_id": "para_576" }, { "text": "orange fanny pack that were found in the back seat were also processed and their", "paragraph_id": "para_577" }, { "text": "contents photographed. In the orange fanny pack was a debit card in Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_578" }, { "text": "name with an account number ending in 0721 (as noted above, a receipt from a", "paragraph_id": "para_579" }, { "text": "Food Mart in Gaffney, South Carolina, dated July 30, 2019, time-stamped 7:24, and", "paragraph_id": "para_580" }, { "text": "indicating that the customer paid with a card bearing an account number ending in", "paragraph_id": "para_581" }, { "text": "0721 was found in Williams’s Honda Pilot). On the front passenger seat of the", "paragraph_id": "para_582" }, { "text": "Honda CR-V was Roberts’s South Carolina state identification card. The wallet", "paragraph_id": "para_583" }, { "text": "Pham found on the front passenger seat contained Epperson’s Ohio driver’s license,", "paragraph_id": "para_584" }, { "text": "money, several cards bearing Epperson’s name, and various receipts and notes.", "paragraph_id": "para_585" }, { "text": "{¶ 87} Next, Dr. Jennifer Schott, a deputy coroner and forensic pathologist", "paragraph_id": "para_586" }, { "text": "for the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office, testified that she found a ligature furrow", "paragraph_id": "para_587" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_588" }, { "text": "21", "paragraph_id": "para_589" }, { "text": "on the front of Epperson’s neck, a three-inch contusion on the chin, abrasions at the", "paragraph_id": "para_590", "court_paragraph": 21 }, { "text": "front of the neck, multiple bilateral conjunctival hemorrhages in both eyeballs, a", "paragraph_id": "para_591" }, { "text": "two-inch abrasion on the outside of the right forearm, two abrasions on the right", "paragraph_id": "para_592" }, { "text": "elbow, a one-and-one-half-inch contusion on the inside of the right forearm, and a", "paragraph_id": "para_593" }, { "text": "contusion on the inside of the left elbow. Schott explained that a furrow is", "paragraph_id": "para_594" }, { "text": "something commonly seen in ligature-strangulation cases. She said, “[I]n this case", "paragraph_id": "para_595" }, { "text": "it is kind of a groove in the skin . . . [and it is] very sharp lined on the lower edge", "paragraph_id": "para_596" }, { "text": "of the groove, and it [goes] across, horizontally across, the front of the neck.” There", "paragraph_id": "para_597" }, { "text": "were no injuries on the hands. On the lower extremities, Schott found several two-", "paragraph_id": "para_598" }, { "text": "inch contusions on the front of the right thigh and two scabs on the right knee.", "paragraph_id": "para_599" }, { "text": "{¶ 88} At the conclusion of the external exam, Schott began the internal", "paragraph_id": "para_600" }, { "text": "examination of the body. She found intramuscular hemorrhages in the back of the", "paragraph_id": "para_601" }, { "text": "neck. According to Schott, this type of injury is commonly found in strangulation", "paragraph_id": "para_602" }, { "text": "cases.", "paragraph_id": "para_603" }, { "text": "{¶ 89} In her expert medical opinion, “based on a reasonable degree of", "paragraph_id": "para_604" }, { "text": "medical certainty,” the cause of Epperson’s death was strangulation and the manner", "paragraph_id": "para_605" }, { "text": "of death was homicide. Schott explained that asphyxial deaths typically take a few", "paragraph_id": "para_606" }, { "text": "minutes and that they result from “compression of the neck [and] can involve either", "paragraph_id": "para_607" }, { "text": "compression of just the jugular veins or compression of the carotid arteries or a", "paragraph_id": "para_608" }, { "text": "compression of the airway itself.”", "paragraph_id": "para_609" }, { "text": "{¶ 90} Next, Forensic Scientist William Ralph Harry from the Hamilton", "paragraph_id": "para_610" }, { "text": "County Coroner’s Crime Laboratory testified. He explained that the crime lab is", "paragraph_id": "para_611" }, { "text": "broken into specialized areas including forensic biology, drug chemistry, firearms,", "paragraph_id": "para_612" }, { "text": "toxicology, and trace evidence. There are also different levels of experience:", "paragraph_id": "para_613" }, { "text": "Forensic Scientist I (one to five years of experience), Forensic Scientist II (five to", "paragraph_id": "para_614" }, { "text": "ten years of experience), and Forensic Scientist III (ten or more years of", "paragraph_id": "para_615" }, { "text": "experience). Harry is a Forensic Scientist III in the area of forensic biology and is", "paragraph_id": "para_616" }, { "text": "a DNA analyst.", "paragraph_id": "para_617" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_618" }, { "text": "22", "paragraph_id": "para_619" }, { "text": "{¶ 91} Harry testified that DNA can be found in any nucleated cell in the", "paragraph_id": "para_620", "court_paragraph": 22 }, { "text": "body. He also explained that a person’s DNA may be left on an object that the", "paragraph_id": "para_621" }, { "text": "person touches (“touch DNA” or “contact DNA”) because the person may leave", "paragraph_id": "para_622" }, { "text": "behind skin cells and because secretions—such as oil—from a person’s hands can", "paragraph_id": "para_623" }, { "text": "have trace amounts of DNA in them. Whether touch DNA is left on an item", "paragraph_id": "para_624" }, { "text": "depends on a variety of factors, such as how long the person touches that item,", "paragraph_id": "para_625" }, { "text": "whether the object is smooth or rough, and whether the person is sweating.", "paragraph_id": "para_626" }, { "text": "{¶ 92} Harry next explained that when a DNA test is run, there is “a series", "paragraph_id": "para_627" }, { "text": "of controls throughout the entire process.” And one test that is run is a “positive", "paragraph_id": "para_628" }, { "text": "control” test, which is when a known DNA profile is tested to ensure that the results", "paragraph_id": "para_629" }, { "text": "obtained from the testing are accurate. Additionally, Harry testified that when", "paragraph_id": "para_630" }, { "text": "evidence is brought to the crime laboratory, it is given a bar code, assigned a case", "paragraph_id": "para_631" }, { "text": "number, and stored in a secured area that requires a key card to access.", "paragraph_id": "para_632" }, { "text": "{¶ 93} Harry next explained that there are four basic steps in DNA analysis.", "paragraph_id": "para_633" }, { "text": "The first step is extraction, in which the sample is placed in a tube with chemicals", "paragraph_id": "para_634" }, { "text": "and heated until the DNA is released into the solution. The solution is then purified,", "paragraph_id": "para_635" }, { "text": "leaving just the “purified DNA extract.” In the second step, the analyst determines", "paragraph_id": "para_636" }, { "text": "how much DNA there is in the sample. Once the amount of DNA is known, the", "paragraph_id": "para_637" }, { "text": "third step is to run a polymerase chain reaction, which takes a very small amount", "paragraph_id": "para_638" }, { "text": "of DNA and makes millions of copies, resulting in an “amplified product.” In the", "paragraph_id": "para_639" }, { "text": "final step, the amplified product is run through an instrument that produces a visual", "paragraph_id": "para_640" }, { "text": "DNA profile. Once the profile is created, Harry explained, the analyst “can make", "paragraph_id": "para_641" }, { "text": "interpretations off of it. . . . [But] that doesn’t mean you can make a comparison to", "paragraph_id": "para_642" }, { "text": "it.” He said the analysts receive a lot of DNA profiles that they “can’t do anything", "paragraph_id": "para_643" }, { "text": "with.”", "paragraph_id": "para_644" }, { "text": "{¶ 94} Harry then explained that a DNA profile is a “visual representation”", "paragraph_id": "para_645" }, { "text": "of DNA segments; some segments all people share, but the analysts are interested", "paragraph_id": "para_646" }, { "text": "in the segments called “short tandem repeats” because the number of short tandem", "paragraph_id": "para_647" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_648" }, { "text": "23", "paragraph_id": "para_649" }, { "text": "repeats varies. Putting it in layman’s terms, Harry said that a DNA profile boils", "paragraph_id": "para_650", "court_paragraph": 23 }, { "text": "down to a series of numbers, and the numbers obtained from the unknown DNA", "paragraph_id": "para_651" }, { "text": "sample are compared to the numbers from the DNA from a known individual to see", "paragraph_id": "para_652" }, { "text": "whether they match.", "paragraph_id": "para_653" }, { "text": "{¶ 95} Harry next explained that some samples that the lab receives contain", "paragraph_id": "para_654" }, { "text": "DNA from multiple people. These samples will result in a mixture of DNA", "paragraph_id": "para_655" }, { "text": "profiles. With these samples, the lab can sometimes determine the source of the", "paragraph_id": "para_656" }, { "text": "major contributor to the sample and the minor contributors, but other times, there", "paragraph_id": "para_657" }, { "text": "is not enough DNA from the minor contributors to make comparisons to the DNA", "paragraph_id": "para_658" }, { "text": "from known individuals.", "paragraph_id": "para_659" }, { "text": "{¶ 96} Harry identified the crime-lab report for the Epperson homicide. He", "paragraph_id": "para_660" }, { "text": "said that the lab had received Roberts’s buccal swabs, i.e., swabs used to collect", "paragraph_id": "para_661" }, { "text": "samples from the inside of Roberts’s cheek, and blood that had been collected from", "paragraph_id": "para_662" }, { "text": "Epperson during the autopsy. The six swabs containing samples collected from", "paragraph_id": "para_663" }, { "text": "Epperson’s apartment and the four swabs containing samples collected from the", "paragraph_id": "para_664" }, { "text": "Honda Pilot were submitted by the Cincinnati Police Department for comparison", "paragraph_id": "para_665" }, { "text": "to the known samples.", "paragraph_id": "para_666" }, { "text": "{¶ 97} Swabs 4-1 through 4-6 contained samples collected from Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_667" }, { "text": "apartment.", "paragraph_id": "para_668" }, { "text": "{¶ 98} Swab 4-1 was collected from the bag that had been placed over", "paragraph_id": "para_669" }, { "text": "Epperson’s head. That swab contained a single partial DNA profile that matched", "paragraph_id": "para_670" }, { "text": "Epperson’s DNA profile.", "paragraph_id": "para_671" }, { "text": "{¶ 99} Swab 4-2 was collected from the box of trash bags found under", "paragraph_id": "para_672" }, { "text": "Epperson’s kitchen sink. That swab contained a single partial DNA profile that", "paragraph_id": "para_673" }, { "text": "matched Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_674" }, { "text": "{¶ 100} Swab 4-3 was collected from the interior doorknob of Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_675" }, { "text": "apartment. That swab contained a mixture of DNA from at least two people. The", "paragraph_id": "para_676" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_677" }, { "text": "24", "paragraph_id": "para_678" }, { "text": "major contributor of DNA was Epperson. The minor contributor of DNA could not", "paragraph_id": "para_679", "court_paragraph": 24 }, { "text": "be determined because there was not enough DNA to use for comparison purposes.", "paragraph_id": "para_680" }, { "text": "{¶ 101} Swab 4-4 was collected from the exterior door handle of the", "paragraph_id": "para_681" }, { "text": "apartment’s sliding door (which opened onto a balcony). There was insufficient", "paragraph_id": "para_682" }, { "text": "DNA material on that swab to produce a DNA result.", "paragraph_id": "para_683" }, { "text": "{¶ 102} Swab 4-5 was collected from the interior door handle of the", "paragraph_id": "para_684" }, { "text": "apartment’s sliding door. That swab contained a partial DNA profile that was a", "paragraph_id": "para_685" }, { "text": "mixture of DNA from two individuals. The major contributor of DNA was", "paragraph_id": "para_686" }, { "text": "Epperson. The minor contributor of DNA could not be determined because there", "paragraph_id": "para_687" }, { "text": "was not enough DNA to use for comparison purposes.", "paragraph_id": "para_688" }, { "text": "{¶ 103} Swab 4-6 was collected from the apartment kitchen cabinet doors.", "paragraph_id": "para_689" }, { "text": "There was insufficient DNA material on that swab to produce a DNA result.", "paragraph_id": "para_690" }, { "text": "{¶ 104} Swabs 5-1 through 5-4 contained samples collected from", "paragraph_id": "para_691" }, { "text": "Williams’s Honda Pilot.", "paragraph_id": "para_692" }, { "text": "{¶ 105} Swab 5-1 was collected from the ignition key. There was", "paragraph_id": "para_693" }, { "text": "insufficient DNA material on that swab to produce a DNA result.", "paragraph_id": "para_694" }, { "text": "{¶ 106} Swab 5-2 was collected from the steering wheel. That swab", "paragraph_id": "para_695" }, { "text": "contained a partial DNA profile that matched Roberts’s DNA profile.", "paragraph_id": "para_696" }, { "text": "{¶ 107} Swab 5-3 was collected from the driver’s side exterior door handle.", "paragraph_id": "para_697" }, { "text": "That swab contained a partial DNA profile that matched Roberts’s DNA profile.", "paragraph_id": "para_698" }, { "text": "{¶ 108} Swab 5-4 was collected from the driver’s side interior door handle.", "paragraph_id": "para_699" }, { "text": "That swab contained a partial DNA profile that matched Roberts’s DNA profile.", "paragraph_id": "para_700" }, { "text": "{¶ 109} There was also a metal electronic smoking device recovered from", "paragraph_id": "para_701" }, { "text": "the Honda Pilot. That device was determined to contain a partial DNA profile that", "paragraph_id": "para_702" }, { "text": "matched Roberts’s DNA profile.", "paragraph_id": "para_703" }, { "text": "{¶ 110} The last item tested for DNA was the purse strap that had been", "paragraph_id": "para_704" }, { "text": "around Epperson’s neck. Samples from two different areas were collected. One", "paragraph_id": "para_705" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_706" }, { "text": "25", "paragraph_id": "para_707" }, { "text": "set of swabs was used to collect blood that was on the purse strap, and another set", "paragraph_id": "para_708", "court_paragraph": 25 }, { "text": "of swabs was used to collect samples from the areas that did not contain blood.", "paragraph_id": "para_709" }, { "text": "{¶ 111} The swabs from both areas gave the same results. The swabs", "paragraph_id": "para_710" }, { "text": "contained a partial DNA profile that was a mixture of DNA from two individuals.", "paragraph_id": "para_711" }, { "text": "The major contributor of DNA was Epperson. The minor contributor of DNA could", "paragraph_id": "para_712" }, { "text": "not be determined because there was not enough DNA to use for comparison", "paragraph_id": "para_713" }, { "text": "purposes.", "paragraph_id": "para_714" }, { "text": "{¶ 112} The State’s final witness was the lead detective in the case,", "paragraph_id": "para_715" }, { "text": "Homicide Detective Kelley. Kelley testified that she and her partner, Detective", "paragraph_id": "para_716" }, { "text": "Ballman, arrived and spoke with the initial responding officers. After viewing the", "paragraph_id": "para_717" }, { "text": "apartment, the detectives did a preliminary canvas for available video or witnesses", "paragraph_id": "para_718" }, { "text": "and then focused on the area of the apartment where Epperson was found. The", "paragraph_id": "para_719" }, { "text": "paramedics had already come and gone by the time the detectives arrived, and the", "paragraph_id": "para_720" }, { "text": "coroner arrived while the detectives were there. Criminalists Lane and Foote were", "paragraph_id": "para_721" }, { "text": "also in the apartment while the detectives were there.", "paragraph_id": "para_722" }, { "text": "{¶ 113} Kelley explained that when she arrives on the scene of a crime, she", "paragraph_id": "para_723" }, { "text": "likes to walk around the scene herself and “observe what’s there, maybe what’s not", "paragraph_id": "para_724" }, { "text": "there.” She then explained that when criminalists arrive at a crime scene, they start", "paragraph_id": "para_725" }, { "text": "taking “overall photographs” of the scene and will also take pictures of and collect", "paragraph_id": "para_726" }, { "text": "any items that a detective points out as potentially important.", "paragraph_id": "para_727" }, { "text": "{¶ 114} Kelley testified that when she stepped inside the door to Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_728" }, { "text": "apartment, Epperson’s body was over to the right lying face down on the floor in", "paragraph_id": "para_729" }, { "text": "the corner of the dining area. The body had a plastic trash bag over the head, and", "paragraph_id": "para_730" }, { "text": "a purse strap was sticking out from underneath the plastic bag. Because of the", "paragraph_id": "para_731" }, { "text": "position of the body, Kelley initially could not tell if the strap was around the neck.", "paragraph_id": "para_732" }, { "text": "The dining table and a rug appeared to be out of place, and a dining chair was", "paragraph_id": "para_733" }, { "text": "broken. Kroger bags with groceries in them were on the floor around and", "paragraph_id": "para_734" }, { "text": "underneath Epperson, and there were smashed blueberries and tomatoes on the", "paragraph_id": "para_735" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_736" }, { "text": "26", "paragraph_id": "para_737" }, { "text": "floor. Kelley said that the rest of the apartment looked “lived in” but that there", "paragraph_id": "para_738", "court_paragraph": 26 }, { "text": "were no signs of a struggle in any other area of the apartment.", "paragraph_id": "para_739" }, { "text": "{¶ 115} When asked about the Jimmy John’s bag, Kelley testified that she", "paragraph_id": "para_740" }, { "text": "saw the Jimmy John’s bag inside a Kroger bag lying near Epperson’s body. Kelley", "paragraph_id": "para_741" }, { "text": "pointed it out to Lane, who then photographed it in place and then placed it on the", "paragraph_id": "para_742" }, { "text": "table to take a closer photograph of the bag and the receipt.", "paragraph_id": "para_743" }, { "text": "{¶ 116} Kelley’s supervisor arrived on the scene and advised the detectives", "paragraph_id": "para_744" }, { "text": "that the previous day, a deputy on patrol in Indiana had stopped to see if the driver", "paragraph_id": "para_745" }, { "text": "of a car that was pulled off on the side of a road needed assistance. They were told", "paragraph_id": "para_746" }, { "text": "that the car belonged to Epperson, that the driver (Roberts) had lied about his", "paragraph_id": "para_747" }, { "text": "identity and had acted suspiciously, and that Epperson’s wallet containing her", "paragraph_id": "para_748" }, { "text": "driver’s license, credit cards, and money had been in the car. Kelley testified that", "paragraph_id": "para_749" }, { "text": "she had noticed that the purse on the dining table in Epperson’s apartment contained", "paragraph_id": "para_750" }, { "text": "a phone charger, cellphone, and some keys, but it did not contain a wallet.", "paragraph_id": "para_751" }, { "text": "{¶ 117} Kelley then contacted Lushin, was told about his interaction with", "paragraph_id": "para_752" }, { "text": "Roberts, and obtained and watched the body-worn-camera video of the interaction.", "paragraph_id": "para_753" }, { "text": "The video shows Roberts telling Lushin that he had his mother’s permission to use", "paragraph_id": "para_754" }, { "text": "the Honda CR-V, that he was traveling to Wisconsin, and that when he last saw his", "paragraph_id": "para_755" }, { "text": "mother, she was taking her groceries into her apartment building.", "paragraph_id": "para_756" }, { "text": "{¶ 118} During the investigation, Kelley learned that Roberts had been", "paragraph_id": "para_757" }, { "text": "staying with Williams in Augusta and that between 9:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on", "paragraph_id": "para_758" }, { "text": "July 29, Roberts had taken Williams’s Honda Pilot without permission. The Honda", "paragraph_id": "para_759" }, { "text": "Pilot was found in the parking lot adjacent to Epperson’s apartment building on", "paragraph_id": "para_760" }, { "text": "August 1 and was towed to the Cincinnati Police Department garage for processing.", "paragraph_id": "para_761" }, { "text": "{¶ 119} Kelley noticed that there were a lot of Roberts’s personal items in", "paragraph_id": "para_762" }, { "text": "the Honda Pilot and that there was also what looked like an orange plastic lid to a", "paragraph_id": "para_763" }, { "text": "Tide Pod laundry-detergent container in the car. That orange lid, Kelley explained,", "paragraph_id": "para_764" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_765" }, { "text": "27", "paragraph_id": "para_766" }, { "text": "was significant because an orange Tide Pod container full of change and missing a", "paragraph_id": "para_767", "court_paragraph": 27 }, { "text": "lid had been found in Epperson’s Honda CR-V.", "paragraph_id": "para_768" }, { "text": "{¶ 120} Other items of significance found in the Honda Pilot were receipts", "paragraph_id": "para_769" }, { "text": "and personal papers. Those receipts helped establish a timeline of when Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_770" }, { "text": "left Augusta and arrived in Cincinnati. Kelley testified that the receipts established", "paragraph_id": "para_771" }, { "text": "that at 7:24 on July 30, 2019, Roberts was at a Food Mart in Gaffney, South", "paragraph_id": "para_772" }, { "text": "Carolina; at 9:25 a.m. on July 30, he was at an Exxon gas station in Connelly", "paragraph_id": "para_773" }, { "text": "Springs, North Carolina; and at 9:52 p.m. on July 30, he was at the Glenway Avenue", "paragraph_id": "para_774" }, { "text": "McDonald’s restaurant—less than two miles from Epperson’s apartment. Kelley", "paragraph_id": "para_775" }, { "text": "identified a screenshot that she took of the McDonald’s video depicting Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_776" }, { "text": "standing at the front counter of the McDonald’s at the time matching the receipt.", "paragraph_id": "para_777" }, { "text": "{¶ 121} Next, Kelley explained that on the morning of July 31, Epperson", "paragraph_id": "para_778" }, { "text": "took a personal day and did not go to work. Kelley testified that Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_779" }, { "text": "supervisor said that that was unusual for Epperson. Based on evidence found in the", "paragraph_id": "para_780" }, { "text": "apartment, Kelley believed that Epperson had been attempting to locate Roberts.", "paragraph_id": "para_781" }, { "text": "{¶ 122} Kelley testified that on the first page of the clipboard in Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_782" }, { "text": "apartment were notes on how to locate a phone with “findmymobilesamsung.com,”", "paragraph_id": "para_783" }, { "text": "along with Roberts’s email address and password. Kelley then explained that", "paragraph_id": "para_784" }, { "text": "because Roberts had reset his cellphone, there were no numbers stored in it and the", "paragraph_id": "para_785" }, { "text": "criminalists were unable to download any information from it.", "paragraph_id": "para_786" }, { "text": "{¶ 123} The second page of Epperson’s notes on the clipboard showed that", "paragraph_id": "para_787" }, { "text": "she was attempting to locate Roberts in Augusta on the morning of July 31. The", "paragraph_id": "para_788" }, { "text": "notes indicate that Augusta is in Richmond County, Georgia, and that Epperson", "paragraph_id": "para_789" }, { "text": "contacted the Richmond County Jail at 9:15 a.m. on July 31. Under that", "paragraph_id": "para_790" }, { "text": "information, she had written, “No Elijah Roberts there.” Next, the notes show that", "paragraph_id": "para_791" }, { "text": "Epperson called University Hospital in Augusta at 9:20 a.m. and made the notation", "paragraph_id": "para_792" }, { "text": "“not there.” Epperson’s notes then indicate that she called three other Augusta-area", "paragraph_id": "para_793" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_794" }, { "text": "28", "paragraph_id": "para_795" }, { "text": "hospitals, and next to two of the hospitals, she had written “not there,” and next to", "paragraph_id": "para_796", "court_paragraph": 28 }, { "text": "the third, she had written, “could not disclose if he’s there due to HIPAA.”", "paragraph_id": "para_797" }, { "text": "{¶ 124} Kelley then identified the surveillance video she had obtained from", "paragraph_id": "para_798" }, { "text": "the Kroger on Glenway Avenue, and it was played for the jury. The video shows", "paragraph_id": "para_799" }, { "text": "that on the afternoon of July 31, Epperson entered the Kroger wearing glasses, a", "paragraph_id": "para_800" }, { "text": "gray t-shirt, black-and-white athletic shorts, white gym shoes, and a white long-", "paragraph_id": "para_801" }, { "text": "strapped purse across her body. Those are the same clothes Epperson was wearing", "paragraph_id": "para_802" }, { "text": "when she was found dead in her apartment on August 1. Surveillance video shows", "paragraph_id": "para_803" }, { "text": "that after purchasing her groceries at 2:18 p.m., Epperson returned her wallet to her", "paragraph_id": "para_804" }, { "text": "purse, zipped the purse closed, and left Kroger wearing the long-strapped white", "paragraph_id": "para_805" }, { "text": "purse across her body. Kelley noted that what was significant about the Kroger", "paragraph_id": "para_806" }, { "text": "surveillance video was that it showed that Epperson had been using her purse to", "paragraph_id": "para_807" }, { "text": "carry her wallet; she had not been carrying it in her hand. And when Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_808" }, { "text": "body was found, her white purse was on the dining table with the center", "paragraph_id": "para_809" }, { "text": "compartment open, the outer compartments zipped closed, and the strap was", "paragraph_id": "para_810" }, { "text": "detached from the purse and was around Epperson’s neck. There was no wallet in", "paragraph_id": "para_811" }, { "text": "the purse, and Epperson’s wallet was found in her Honda CR-V, which Roberts was", "paragraph_id": "para_812" }, { "text": "driving in Indiana on July 31 at 7:00 p.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_813" }, { "text": "{¶ 125} Kelley next explained that upon leaving Kroger, Epperson went to", "paragraph_id": "para_814" }, { "text": "the Glenway Avenue Jimmy John’s, approximately one mile from Kroger, and", "paragraph_id": "para_815" }, { "text": "purchased a sandwich and a bag of chips at 2:31 p.m. Kelley also explained that", "paragraph_id": "para_816" }, { "text": "the Jimmy John’s receipt was significant timeline evidence because it showed that", "paragraph_id": "para_817" }, { "text": "Epperson was alive at that time.", "paragraph_id": "para_818" }, { "text": "{¶ 126} Kelley then was asked in how many of the 70 homicide cases she", "paragraph_id": "para_819" }, { "text": "had investigated had DNA or fingerprints been recovered from the crime scene.", "paragraph_id": "para_820" }, { "text": "She said that in her experience, it is rare to recover DNA or fingerprints from a", "paragraph_id": "para_821" }, { "text": "crime scene and that typically, electronic evidence from videos, phones, and social", "paragraph_id": "para_822" }, { "text": "media is more likely to be used as evidence.", "paragraph_id": "para_823" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_824" }, { "text": "29", "paragraph_id": "para_825" }, { "text": "{¶ 127} On cross-examination, Kelley identified an Ohio Bureau of Motor", "paragraph_id": "para_826", "court_paragraph": 29 }, { "text": "Vehicles record-request form that was in the backpack that was found in Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_827" }, { "text": "Honda CR-V. Roberts had signed the form on July 20, 2019, but the email address", "paragraph_id": "para_828" }, { "text": "listed was EliBlainew@gmail.com—an email address that was different from the", "paragraph_id": "para_829" }, { "text": "one that Epperson had written in her notes in connection with her attempts to locate", "paragraph_id": "para_830" }, { "text": "him through his cellphone-service provider. Kelley then identified a photograph of", "paragraph_id": "para_831" }, { "text": "several documents of Roberts’s that had been recovered from the Honda CR-V,", "paragraph_id": "para_832" }, { "text": "including a driving abstract, a birth certificate, and a Social Security card. Also", "paragraph_id": "para_833" }, { "text": "recovered were two envelopes with Roberts’s full name on them. On each", "paragraph_id": "para_834" }, { "text": "envelope, “Roberts” had been crossed out and “Blaine” had been written in its", "paragraph_id": "para_835" }, { "text": "place.", "paragraph_id": "para_836" }, { "text": "C. Conviction and Sentence", "paragraph_id": "para_837" }, { "text": "{¶ 128} The jury found Roberts guilty on both counts of aggravated murder", "paragraph_id": "para_838" }, { "text": "and one count each of aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence.", "paragraph_id": "para_839" }, { "text": "Additionally, the trial court found Roberts guilty of one count of receiving stolen", "paragraph_id": "para_840" }, { "text": "property, which had been tried to the bench. For sentencing purposes, the trial court", "paragraph_id": "para_841" }, { "text": "merged both the R.C. 2903.01(B) aggravated-murder count and the aggravated-", "paragraph_id": "para_842" }, { "text": "robbery count with the R.C. 2903.01(A) aggravated-murder count, i.e., aggravated", "paragraph_id": "para_843" }, { "text": "murder with prior calculation and design, and imposed life imprisonment with", "paragraph_id": "para_844" }, { "text": "parole eligibility after 25 years. The court imposed a term of 36 months for the", "paragraph_id": "para_845" }, { "text": "tampering-with-evidence count and 18 months for the receiving-stolen-property", "paragraph_id": "para_846" }, { "text": "count and ordered that all the sentences be served concurrently.", "paragraph_id": "para_847" }, { "text": "D. Appeals", "paragraph_id": "para_848" }, { "text": "{¶ 129} Roberts appealed to the First District, raising six assignments of", "paragraph_id": "para_849" }, { "text": "error. See 2024-Ohio-1604 at ¶ 1 (1st Dist.). Relevant here are assignment of error", "paragraph_id": "para_850" }, { "text": "Nos. 1 and 2. The first assignment of error challenged the trial court’s denial of", "paragraph_id": "para_851" }, { "text": "Roberts’s motion to suppress the statements he made to Deputy Lushin; Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_852" }, { "text": "argued that the roadside encounter had almost immediately become a custodial", "paragraph_id": "para_853" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_854" }, { "text": "30", "paragraph_id": "para_855" }, { "text": "interrogation and noted that he had not been read his Miranda rights. Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_856", "court_paragraph": 30 }, { "text": "second assignment of error argued that the trial court improperly admitted", "paragraph_id": "para_857" }, { "text": "Williams’s other-acts testimony under Evid.R. 404(B). Specifically, Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_858" }, { "text": "sought to exclude Williams’s testimony that he stole her Honda Pilot and that she", "paragraph_id": "para_859" }, { "text": "observed her dining-room curtains smoldering around the time of Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_860" }, { "text": "departure.", "paragraph_id": "para_861" }, { "text": "{¶ 130} The court of appeals held that the trial court had erred by admitting", "paragraph_id": "para_862" }, { "text": "Roberts’s statements after the 15:59 minute mark of the video from Lushin’s body-", "paragraph_id": "para_863" }, { "text": "worn camera and by admitting Williams’s testimony regarding Roberts’s other acts.", "paragraph_id": "para_864" }, { "text": "Id. at ¶ 56-57, 71-88. It concluded that these errors were not harmless, because", "paragraph_id": "para_865" }, { "text": "after it excised the erroneously admitted evidence, it determined that his", "paragraph_id": "para_866" }, { "text": "convictions for aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, and tampering with", "paragraph_id": "para_867" }, { "text": "evidence were not supported by overwhelming evidence of guilt. Id. at ¶ 58-59,", "paragraph_id": "para_868" }, { "text": "90. In support of its conclusion, the court cited inconclusive DNA evidence and", "paragraph_id": "para_869" }, { "text": "the lack of testing of Epperson’s fingernail clippings. Id. at ¶ 58. It also noted", "paragraph_id": "para_870" }, { "text": "Roberts’s familial relationship with Epperson and the lack of testimony that he did", "paragraph_id": "para_871" }, { "text": "not have legitimate access to her wallet, keys, and car. Id. As a result, the First", "paragraph_id": "para_872" }, { "text": "District reversed Roberts’s convictions for aggravated murder and aggravated", "paragraph_id": "para_873" }, { "text": "robbery and remanded the cause to the trial court for a new trial on those counts.", "paragraph_id": "para_874" }, { "text": "Id. at ¶ 61, 90, 114. The court also reversed Roberts’s conviction for tampering", "paragraph_id": "para_875" }, { "text": "with evidence and held that the lack of sufficient evidence barred retrial on that", "paragraph_id": "para_876" }, { "text": "count. Id. at ¶ 113-114.", "paragraph_id": "para_877" }, { "text": "{¶ 131} The State appealed to this court, and we accepted the appeal on the", "paragraph_id": "para_878" }, { "text": "State’s single proposition of law: “Where there is overwhelming evidence of guilt,", "paragraph_id": "para_879" }, { "text": "a reviewing court errs as a matter of law by failing to find harmless the admission", "paragraph_id": "para_880" }, { "text": "of isolated statements and prior acts of the defendant. The remaining evidence,", "paragraph_id": "para_881" }, { "text": "standing alone, constituted overwhelming proof of Roberts’s guilt.” See 2024-", "paragraph_id": "para_882" }, { "text": "Ohio-3096. The State’s proposition of law is worded broadly; however, the State’s", "paragraph_id": "para_883" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_884" }, { "text": "31", "paragraph_id": "para_885" }, { "text": "appeal is limited by its merit brief, which asks this court to reverse only the", "paragraph_id": "para_886", "court_paragraph": 31 }, { "text": "appellate court’s reversal of Roberts’s convictions for aggravated murder and", "paragraph_id": "para_887" }, { "text": "aggravated robbery.", "paragraph_id": "para_888" }, { "text": "III. LAW AND ANALYSIS", "paragraph_id": "para_889" }, { "text": "{¶ 132} As a threshold matter, we address Roberts’s contention that the", "paragraph_id": "para_890" }, { "text": "State forfeited its harmless-error argument by failing to raise it below. We disagree.", "paragraph_id": "para_891" }, { "text": "{¶ 133} The State was not required to argue harmless error before the court", "paragraph_id": "para_892" }, { "text": "of appeals for that court to engage in the harmless-error analysis, because under the", "paragraph_id": "para_893" }, { "text": "Rules of Criminal Procedure, specifically Crim.R. 52(A), a court of appeals is", "paragraph_id": "para_894" }, { "text": "required to engage in a harmless-error analysis when, as in this case, a defendant", "paragraph_id": "para_895" }, { "text": "appeals his conviction on the basis of trial-court errors to which he objected at trial.", "paragraph_id": "para_896" }, { "text": "State v. Perry, 2004-Ohio-297, ¶ 15. As this court explained in Perry, “Crim.R.", "paragraph_id": "para_897" }, { "text": "52(A) is mandatory, not permissive, and thus affords the appellate court no", "paragraph_id": "para_898" }, { "text": "discretion to disregard [such an] error.” Id. But if the error “does not affect", "paragraph_id": "para_899" }, { "text": "substantial rights[, it] shall be disregarded.” (Emphasis added.) Crim.R. 52(A).", "paragraph_id": "para_900" }, { "text": "The court of appeals conducted the harmless-error review required by the rule, and", "paragraph_id": "para_901" }, { "text": "the State has presented a proposition of law challenging the appellate court’s", "paragraph_id": "para_902" }, { "text": "determination that the error was not harmless. Accordingly, the State has not", "paragraph_id": "para_903" }, { "text": "forfeited its argument.", "paragraph_id": "para_904" }, { "text": "A. Standard of Review", "paragraph_id": "para_905" }, { "text": "{¶ 134} “The harmless-error doctrine recognizes the principle that the", "paragraph_id": "para_906" }, { "text": "central purpose of a criminal trial is to decide the factual question of the defendant’s", "paragraph_id": "para_907" }, { "text": "guilt or innocence . . . and promotes public respect for the criminal process by", "paragraph_id": "para_908" }, { "text": "focusing on the underlying fairness of the trial rather than on the virtually inevitable", "paragraph_id": "para_909" }, { "text": "presence of immaterial error.” Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 681 (1986).", "paragraph_id": "para_910" }, { "text": "{¶ 135} The harmless-error doctrine is reflected in Crim.R. 52(A), which", "paragraph_id": "para_911" }, { "text": "states: “Harmless Error. Any error, defect, irregularity, or variance which does not", "paragraph_id": "para_912" }, { "text": "affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.” “Under [Crim.R. 52(A)], the", "paragraph_id": "para_913" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_914" }, { "text": "32", "paragraph_id": "para_915" }, { "text": "government bears the burden of demonstrating that the error did not affect the", "paragraph_id": "para_916", "court_paragraph": 32 }, { "text": "substantial rights of the defendant.” (Emphasis in original.) Perry at ¶ 15. “An", "paragraph_id": "para_917" }, { "text": "appellate court must reverse a conviction if the government does not satisfy this", "paragraph_id": "para_918" }, { "text": "burden.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_919" }, { "text": "{¶ 136} When a defendant objects to a constitutional error at trial, the error", "paragraph_id": "para_920" }, { "text": "is a reversible error unless the State establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the", "paragraph_id": "para_921" }, { "text": "error complained of did not contribute to the conviction. Chapman v. California,", "paragraph_id": "para_922" }, { "text": "386 U.S. 18, 24 (1967). In contrast, this court has indicated that", "paragraph_id": "para_923" }, { "text": "“[n]onconstitutional error is harmless if there is substantial other evidence to", "paragraph_id": "para_924" }, { "text": "support the guilty verdict.” State v. Webb, 1994-Ohio-425, ¶ 54.", "paragraph_id": "para_925" }, { "text": "{¶ 137} In State v. Morris, 2014-Ohio-5052, however, a sharply divided", "paragraph_id": "para_926" }, { "text": "court dispensed with the distinction between harmless-error review for", "paragraph_id": "para_927" }, { "text": "constitutional errors and harmless-error review for nonconstitutional errors. Id. at", "paragraph_id": "para_928" }, { "text": "¶ 22-24. The majority in Morris held that the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt harmless-", "paragraph_id": "para_929" }, { "text": "error standard applied to both constitutional and nonconstitutional errors that had", "paragraph_id": "para_930" }, { "text": "been preserved.1 Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_931" }, { "text": "{¶ 138} The Morris court created a three-part test for courts to apply in", "paragraph_id": "para_932" }, { "text": "reviewing for harmless error:", "paragraph_id": "para_933" }, { "text": "1. The author of this opinion disagreed with this court’s merging of the harmless-error standard of", "paragraph_id": "para_934" }, { "text": "review applied in cases involving constitutional errors and the harmless-error standard of review", "paragraph_id": "para_935" }, { "text": "applied in cases involving nonconstitutional errors and would have applied the harmless-error", "paragraph_id": "para_936" }, { "text": "standard that federal circuit courts apply in cases involving nonconstitutional errors. Morris at ¶ 55", "paragraph_id": "para_937" }, { "text": "(Kennedy, J., dissenting). That standard requires a court to determine whether the judgment was", "paragraph_id": "para_938" }, { "text": "substantially swayed by the improperly admitted evidence. Id. (Kennedy, J., dissenting), citing", "paragraph_id": "para_939" }, { "text": "Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 765 (1946). Former Justice Terrence O’Donnell", "paragraph_id": "para_940" }, { "text": "contended that the preponderance standard should apply when deciding whether a nonconstitutional", "paragraph_id": "para_941" }, { "text": "error affected the outcome of the trial and that the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard should apply", "paragraph_id": "para_942" }, { "text": "when deciding whether a constitutional error affected the outcome of the trial. Morris at ¶ 43", "paragraph_id": "para_943" }, { "text": "(O’Donnell, J., dissenting). Our decision today, which relies on the factors enunciated in Morris,", "paragraph_id": "para_944" }, { "text": "does not foreclose future parties from arguing that a different harmless-error standard should apply", "paragraph_id": "para_945" }, { "text": "in cases involving nonconstitutional errors.", "paragraph_id": "para_946" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_947" }, { "text": "33", "paragraph_id": "para_948" }, { "text": "First, it must be determined whether the defendant was", "paragraph_id": "para_949", "court_paragraph": 33 }, { "text": "prejudiced by the error, i.e., whether the error had an impact on the", "paragraph_id": "para_950" }, { "text": "verdict. Second, it must be determined whether the error was not", "paragraph_id": "para_951" }, { "text": "harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Lastly, once the prejudicial", "paragraph_id": "para_952" }, { "text": "evidence is excised, the remaining evidence is weighed to determine", "paragraph_id": "para_953" }, { "text": "whether it establishes the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable", "paragraph_id": "para_954" }, { "text": "doubt.", "paragraph_id": "para_955" }, { "text": "(Citations omitted.) State v. Harris, 2015-Ohio-166, ¶ 37, citing Morris at ¶ 25,", "paragraph_id": "para_956" }, { "text": "27-29, 33. This court has recognized that an error in admitting evidence may be", "paragraph_id": "para_957" }, { "text": "deemed harmless beyond a reasonable doubt if when the improperly admitted", "paragraph_id": "para_958" }, { "text": "evidence is excised, the remaining evidence provides overwhelming proof of the", "paragraph_id": "para_959" }, { "text": "defendant’s guilt. Morris at ¶ 32. “[A constitutional] error in a criminal case in", "paragraph_id": "para_960" }, { "text": "which the defendant is convicted by a jury is harmless if without the error no", "paragraph_id": "para_961" }, { "text": "reasonable juror would have voted to acquit.” (Emphasis in original.) United", "paragraph_id": "para_962" }, { "text": "States v. Williams, 698 F.3d 374, 383 (7th Cir. 2012).", "paragraph_id": "para_963" }, { "text": "{¶ 139} “[P]roof of guilt may be made by circumstantial evidence as well", "paragraph_id": "para_964" }, { "text": "as by real evidence and direct or testimonial evidence, or any combination of these", "paragraph_id": "para_965" }, { "text": "three classes of evidence.” 1A Wigmore, Evidence, § 24 et seq., at 944 (Tillers", "paragraph_id": "para_966" }, { "text": "Rev. 1983). “Circumstantial evidence and direct evidence inherently possess the", "paragraph_id": "para_967" }, { "text": "same probative value . . . .” State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259 (1991), paragraph", "paragraph_id": "para_968" }, { "text": "one of the syllabus, superseded by constitutional amendment on other grounds as", "paragraph_id": "para_969" }, { "text": "stated in State v. Smith, 1997-Ohio-355, ¶ 49, fn. 4.", "paragraph_id": "para_970" }, { "text": "{¶ 140} “Circumstantial evidence is sometimes defined as proof of facts by", "paragraph_id": "para_971" }, { "text": "direct evidence from which the trier of fact may infer or derive by reasoning other", "paragraph_id": "para_972" }, { "text": "facts in accordance with the common experience of mankind.” State v. Griffin, 13", "paragraph_id": "para_973" }, { "text": "Ohio App.3d 376, 377 (1st Dist. 1979), citing 1 Ohio Jury Instructions, § 5.10d", "paragraph_id": "para_974" }, { "text": "(1968). When reviewing the evidence presented, it is within the province of the", "paragraph_id": "para_975" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_976" }, { "text": "34", "paragraph_id": "para_977" }, { "text": "fact-finder to draw reasonable inferences from the evidence. Jackson v. Virginia,", "paragraph_id": "para_978", "court_paragraph": 34 }, { "text": "443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979). And when drawing reasonable inferences, jurors are", "paragraph_id": "para_979" }, { "text": "“free to rely on their common sense and experience.” State v. Allen, 1995-Ohio-", "paragraph_id": "para_980" }, { "text": "283, ¶ 45. “‘[C]ircumstantial evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction if that", "paragraph_id": "para_981" }, { "text": "evidence would convince the average mind of the defendant’s guilt beyond a", "paragraph_id": "para_982" }, { "text": "reasonable doubt.’” State v. McKnight, 2005-Ohio-6046, ¶ 75, quoting State v.", "paragraph_id": "para_983" }, { "text": "Heinish, 50 Ohio St.3d 231, 238 (1990).", "paragraph_id": "para_984" }, { "text": "{¶ 141} In this case, the State relied primarily on circumstantial evidence—", "paragraph_id": "para_985" }, { "text": "there is no direct evidence of guilt such as a confession or an eyewitness.", "paragraph_id": "para_986" }, { "text": "{¶ 142} The State has not challenged the court of appeals’ holding that the", "paragraph_id": "para_987" }, { "text": "trial court erred in denying Roberts’s motion to suppress his statements made after", "paragraph_id": "para_988" }, { "text": "the 15:59 minute mark of the video from Deputy Lushin’s body-worn camera or", "paragraph_id": "para_989" }, { "text": "the court of appeals’ holding that the trial court erred in denying Roberts’s motion", "paragraph_id": "para_990" }, { "text": "in limine to exclude Williams’s other-acts testimony. The State’s appeal is narrow.", "paragraph_id": "para_991" }, { "text": "It focuses on only the third part of the Morris test: whether, once the improperly", "paragraph_id": "para_992" }, { "text": "admitted evidence is excised, the remaining evidence establishes the defendant’s", "paragraph_id": "para_993" }, { "text": "guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See Morris, 2014-Ohio-5052, at ¶ 29. We hold", "paragraph_id": "para_994" }, { "text": "that the third part of the test is satisfied in this case; after the improperly admitted", "paragraph_id": "para_995" }, { "text": "evidence is excised, there remains overwhelming evidence of Roberts’s guilt of", "paragraph_id": "para_996" }, { "text": "aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. The trial court’s evidentiary errors", "paragraph_id": "para_997" }, { "text": "were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.", "paragraph_id": "para_998" }, { "text": "B. The Remaining Evidence Proves Roberts’s Guilt Beyond a Reasonable Doubt", "paragraph_id": "para_999" }, { "text": "1. Aggravated Murder under R.C. 2903.01(A)", "paragraph_id": "para_1000" }, { "text": "{¶ 143} For Roberts to be convicted of aggravated murder under R.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_1001" }, { "text": "2903.01(A), the State was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_1002" }, { "text": "“purposely, and with prior calculation and design” caused Epperson’s death. R.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_1003" }, { "text": "2903.01(A). A person acts purposely “when it is the person’s specific intention to", "paragraph_id": "para_1004" }, { "text": "cause a certain result.” R.C. 2901.22(A).", "paragraph_id": "para_1005" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_1006" }, { "text": "35", "paragraph_id": "para_1007" }, { "text": "{¶ 144} “The phrase ‘prior calculation and design’ by its own terms", "paragraph_id": "para_1008", "court_paragraph": 35 }, { "text": "suggests advance reasoning to formulate the purpose to kill.” State v. Walker,", "paragraph_id": "para_1009" }, { "text": "2016-Ohio-8295, ¶ 18. As this court explained in State v. Maxwell, 2014-Ohio-", "paragraph_id": "para_1010" }, { "text": "1019, “[n]o bright-line test exists that ‘emphatically distinguishes between the", "paragraph_id": "para_1011" }, { "text": "presence or absence of “prior calculation and design.” Instead, each case turns on", "paragraph_id": "para_1012" }, { "text": "the particular facts and evidence presented at trial.’” Id. at ¶ 148, quoting State v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1013" }, { "text": "Taylor, 1997-Ohio-243, ¶ 28.", "paragraph_id": "para_1014" }, { "text": "{¶ 145} “[I]nstantaneous deliberation is not sufficient to constitute ‘prior", "paragraph_id": "para_1015" }, { "text": "calculation and design.’” State v. Cotton, 56 Ohio St.2d 8, 11 (1978). But this does", "paragraph_id": "para_1016" }, { "text": "not mean that a considerable amount of time must lapse between formulating the", "paragraph_id": "para_1017" }, { "text": "plan and committing the murder. “[P]rior calculation and design can be found even", "paragraph_id": "para_1018" }, { "text": "when the killer quickly conceived and executed the plan to kill within a few", "paragraph_id": "para_1019" }, { "text": "minutes,” State v. Coley, 2001-Ohio-1340, ¶ 59, or when the evidence shows that", "paragraph_id": "para_1020" }, { "text": "the killer “went beyond a momentary impulse and show[s] that he was determined", "paragraph_id": "para_1021" }, { "text": "to complete a specific course of action,” State v. Conway, 2006-Ohio-791, ¶ 46.", "paragraph_id": "para_1022" }, { "text": "Even the “nature of the attack” can show prior calculation and design. State v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1023" }, { "text": "Cassano, 2002-Ohio-3751, ¶ 81.", "paragraph_id": "para_1024" }, { "text": "{¶ 146} The question is whether “‘[the] defendant acted with advance", "paragraph_id": "para_1025" }, { "text": "reasoning and purpose to kill.’” (Bracketed text added in Nicholson.) State v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1026" }, { "text": "Nicholson, 2024-Ohio-604, ¶ 51, quoting State v. Jones, 2021-Ohio-3311, ¶ 2 (lead", "paragraph_id": "para_1027" }, { "text": "opinion). And when the evidence presented at trial “reveals the presence of", "paragraph_id": "para_1028" }, { "text": "sufficient time and opportunity for the planning of an act of homicide to constitute", "paragraph_id": "para_1029" }, { "text": "prior calculation, and the circumstances surrounding the homicide show a scheme", "paragraph_id": "para_1030" }, { "text": "designed to implement the calculated decision to kill, a finding by the trier of fact", "paragraph_id": "para_1031" }, { "text": "of prior calculation and design is justified.” Cotton at paragraph three of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1032" }, { "text": "syllabus.", "paragraph_id": "para_1033" }, { "text": "{¶ 147} In State v. Franklin, 2002-Ohio-5304, this court reiterated that", "paragraph_id": "para_1034" }, { "text": "there are three “pertinent” considerations in determining whether prior calculation", "paragraph_id": "para_1035" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_1036" }, { "text": "36", "paragraph_id": "para_1037" }, { "text": "and design exist: “‘(1) Did the accused and victim know each other, and if so, was", "paragraph_id": "para_1038", "court_paragraph": 36 }, { "text": "that relationship strained? (2) Did the accused give thought or preparation to", "paragraph_id": "para_1039" }, { "text": "choosing the murder weapon or murder site? and (3) Was the act drawn out or “an", "paragraph_id": "para_1040" }, { "text": "almost instantaneous eruption of events?”’” Id. at ¶ 56, quoting Taylor, 1997-Ohio-", "paragraph_id": "para_1041" }, { "text": "243, at ¶ 25, quoting State v. Jenkins, 48 Ohio App.2d 99, 102 (8th Dist. 1976).", "paragraph_id": "para_1042" }, { "text": "While this court has stated that these considerations are “pertinent,” we have “never", "paragraph_id": "para_1043" }, { "text": "held that these are the exclusive factors to be applied in determining whether the", "paragraph_id": "para_1044" }, { "text": "accused acted with prior calculation and design.” (Emphasis in original). State v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1045" }, { "text": "Walker, 2016-Ohio-8295, ¶ 40 (O’Donnell, J., dissenting).", "paragraph_id": "para_1046" }, { "text": "{¶ 148} At oral argument, Roberts asserted that when the improperly", "paragraph_id": "para_1047" }, { "text": "admitted custodial statements are excised, there is not overwhelming evidence that", "paragraph_id": "para_1048" }, { "text": "places Roberts near Epperson at the time of her death. We disagree.", "paragraph_id": "para_1049" }, { "text": "a. Opportunity", "paragraph_id": "para_1050" }, { "text": "{¶ 149} There is overwhelming evidence that places Roberts near Epperson", "paragraph_id": "para_1051" }, { "text": "at the time of her death and establishes that he murdered her.", "paragraph_id": "para_1052" }, { "text": "{¶ 150} First, Roberts was in possession of Epperson’s wallet, which she", "paragraph_id": "para_1053" }, { "text": "clearly had possession of at the time of her death. Epperson shopped at the Glenway", "paragraph_id": "para_1054" }, { "text": "Avenue Kroger in the afternoon of July 31, 2019, and checked out at 2:18 p.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_1055" }, { "text": "Surveillance video shows that after paying for her groceries, Epperson placed her", "paragraph_id": "para_1056" }, { "text": "wallet in the center compartment of her purse. That wallet was later found in the", "paragraph_id": "para_1057" }, { "text": "center console of Epperson’s Honda CR-V in Indiana with Roberts. When Deputy", "paragraph_id": "para_1058" }, { "text": "Lushin opened the wallet while searching the Honda CR-V, his body-worn-camera", "paragraph_id": "para_1059" }, { "text": "video shows, the Kroger receipt was in the center compartment of the wallet.", "paragraph_id": "para_1060" }, { "text": "{¶ 151} Next, evidence adduced by the State shows that when Epperson left", "paragraph_id": "para_1061" }, { "text": "Kroger, she went to Jimmy John’s and purchased a meal for herself at 2:31 p.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_1062" }, { "text": "with cash. Because Epperson placed her wallet in her purse before she left Kroger,", "paragraph_id": "para_1063" }, { "text": "a jury could reasonably infer that she did the same after she paid for her food at", "paragraph_id": "para_1064" }, { "text": "Jimmy John’s. And there is no evidence that Epperson went anywhere after Jimmy", "paragraph_id": "para_1065" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_1066" }, { "text": "37", "paragraph_id": "para_1067" }, { "text": "John’s on July 31 before she went home. Importantly, the meal from Jimmy John’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1068", "court_paragraph": 37 }, { "text": "was still in the bag of groceries when she was killed, which permits a fact-finder to", "paragraph_id": "para_1069" }, { "text": "draw the reasonable inference that she drove straight home from Jimmy John’s.", "paragraph_id": "para_1070" }, { "text": "{¶ 152} Lushin testified that his contact with Roberts in Indiana began on", "paragraph_id": "para_1071" }, { "text": "July 31 at 7:00 p.m. And according to Lushin, Tipton, Indiana, is approximately a", "paragraph_id": "para_1072" }, { "text": "two-and-a-half-hour drive from Cincinnati. So, with Epperson’s wallet containing", "paragraph_id": "para_1073" }, { "text": "the July 31 Kroger receipt in the center console of the Honda CR-V and with the", "paragraph_id": "para_1074" }, { "text": "Jimmy John’s receipt showing that Epperson purchased her meal at 2:31 p.m.,", "paragraph_id": "para_1075" }, { "text": "Roberts’s contact with Epperson occurred on July 31 sometime between 2:31 p.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_1076" }, { "text": "(the time Epperson was at Jimmy John’s) and 4:30 p.m. (the latest time Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_1077" }, { "text": "could have left Cincinnati in order to be where Lushin saw him in Tipton, Indiana,", "paragraph_id": "para_1078" }, { "text": "at 7:00 p.m.). Therefore, Roberts had contact with Epperson on July 31 after 2:31", "paragraph_id": "para_1079" }, { "text": "p.m. but before 4:30 p.m.", "paragraph_id": "para_1080" }, { "text": "{¶ 153} Further, it is clear from the crime-scene photos that Epperson was", "paragraph_id": "para_1081" }, { "text": "violently attacked immediately after entering her apartment, because she had not", "paragraph_id": "para_1082" }, { "text": "even had time to set her groceries down. The groceries were in their bags, and the", "paragraph_id": "para_1083" }, { "text": "bags were strewn across the floor, with some of the groceries pinned under", "paragraph_id": "para_1084" }, { "text": "Epperson’s body. And her meal from Jimmy John’s was still inside a Kroger bag", "paragraph_id": "para_1085" }, { "text": "with groceries, which, again, permits a fact-finder to infer that she drove directly to", "paragraph_id": "para_1086" }, { "text": "her apartment from the sandwich store. Epperson’s purse, however, was on top of", "paragraph_id": "para_1087" }, { "text": "the dining table and the center compartment was unzipped. And the wallet she had", "paragraph_id": "para_1088" }, { "text": "placed in her purse at Kroger was missing. It is obvious that the killer took the", "paragraph_id": "para_1089" }, { "text": "wallet, and Roberts had the wallet when he was detained.", "paragraph_id": "para_1090" }, { "text": "{¶ 154} Second, Williams’s Honda Pilot was found in the parking lot", "paragraph_id": "para_1091" }, { "text": "adjacent to Epperson’s apartment building. Williams testified that she had seen", "paragraph_id": "para_1092" }, { "text": "Roberts drive away in her Honda Pilot on July 29, and his belongings and DNA", "paragraph_id": "para_1093" }, { "text": "were found in the car.", "paragraph_id": "para_1094" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_1095" }, { "text": "38", "paragraph_id": "para_1096" }, { "text": "{¶ 155} A debit card of Roberts was also found in the center console of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1097", "court_paragraph": 38 }, { "text": "Honda Pilot, and a suitcase containing his clothing was in the back seat. When the", "paragraph_id": "para_1098" }, { "text": "contents of the suitcase and the center console were processed, receipts from stops", "paragraph_id": "para_1099" }, { "text": "in North and South Carolina were found. The last four digits of the card number", "paragraph_id": "para_1100" }, { "text": "recorded on the convenience-store receipt from Gaffney, South Carolina—0721—", "paragraph_id": "para_1101" }, { "text": "were the same last four digits as one of Roberts’s debit cards that Criminalist Pham", "paragraph_id": "para_1102" }, { "text": "found in the orange fanny pack in Epperson’s Honda CR-V.", "paragraph_id": "para_1103" }, { "text": "{¶ 156} Third, Roberts never told Epperson that he was in Cincinnati. The", "paragraph_id": "para_1104" }, { "text": "McDonald’s receipt recovered from Williams’s Honda Pilot and the McDonald’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1105" }, { "text": "surveillance video show that Roberts was less than two miles away from", "paragraph_id": "para_1106" }, { "text": "Epperson’s apartment on the evening of July 30. Yet on the morning of July 31,", "paragraph_id": "para_1107" }, { "text": "Epperson contacted the Richmond County Jail and four Augusta-area hospitals", "paragraph_id": "para_1108" }, { "text": "attempting to locate Roberts. Unquestionably, on the day she was murdered,", "paragraph_id": "para_1109" }, { "text": "Epperson was under the mistaken belief that Roberts was still in the Augusta area.", "paragraph_id": "para_1110" }, { "text": "She did not know that Roberts was in Cincinnati.", "paragraph_id": "para_1111" }, { "text": "{¶ 157} Fourth, when Lushin spoke with Roberts, he was visibly nervous,", "paragraph_id": "para_1112" }, { "text": "and Roberts lied about his name and his age. His statement that he was traveling", "paragraph_id": "para_1113" }, { "text": "to Wisconsin was not credible given that he had no luggage, he was not on a route", "paragraph_id": "para_1114" }, { "text": "that one would take from Cincinnati to Wisconsin, and he was unable to tell Lushin", "paragraph_id": "para_1115" }, { "text": "where in Wisconsin he was going. Flight from the scene of a crime and the", "paragraph_id": "para_1116" }, { "text": "assumption of a false name both show consciousness of guilt and provide evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_1117" }, { "text": "of guilt itself. State v. Echols, 2024-Ohio-5088, ¶ 32, citing State v. Eaton, 19 Ohio", "paragraph_id": "para_1118" }, { "text": "St.2d 145, 160 (1969), vacated in part on other grounds sub nom. Eaton v. Ohio,", "paragraph_id": "para_1119" }, { "text": "408 U.S. 935 (1972). All of this serves to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that", "paragraph_id": "para_1120" }, { "text": "Roberts killed Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_1121" }, { "text": "{¶ 158} Contrary to Roberts’s assertion, there is overwhelming evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_1122" }, { "text": "that places him near Epperson at the time of her death, giving him the opportunity", "paragraph_id": "para_1123" }, { "text": "to murder her.", "paragraph_id": "para_1124" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_1125" }, { "text": "39", "paragraph_id": "para_1126" }, { "text": "b. Acted purposely", "paragraph_id": "para_1127", "court_paragraph": 39 }, { "text": "{¶ 159} As noted above, for Roberts to be convicted of aggravated murder,", "paragraph_id": "para_1128" }, { "text": "the State had to prove that he purposely caused Epperson’s death. See R.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_1129" }, { "text": "2903.01(A). Circumstantial evidence may establish that a defendant acted", "paragraph_id": "para_1130" }, { "text": "purposely. See State v. Nicely, 39 Ohio St.3d 147, 151 (1988). “The law has long", "paragraph_id": "para_1131" }, { "text": "recognized that intent, lying as it does within the privacy of a person’s own", "paragraph_id": "para_1132" }, { "text": "thoughts, is not susceptible of objective proof.” State v. Garner, 1995-Ohio-168,", "paragraph_id": "para_1133" }, { "text": "¶ 41. Therefore, surrounding facts and circumstances in the case may establish", "paragraph_id": "para_1134" }, { "text": "intent. Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1135" }, { "text": "{¶ 160} In this case, there is overwhelming evidence that Roberts purposely", "paragraph_id": "para_1136" }, { "text": "caused the death of Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_1137" }, { "text": "{¶ 161} That Roberts acted purposefully is apparent from the nature of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1138" }, { "text": "attack. Epperson was ambushed. And Epperson’s death was caused by", "paragraph_id": "para_1139" }, { "text": "strangulation after Roberts either lay in wait for her in her apartment or followed", "paragraph_id": "para_1140" }, { "text": "her into the apartment. Epperson entered her apartment carrying her groceries and", "paragraph_id": "para_1141" }, { "text": "did not have time to set her groceries down before she was knocked down with", "paragraph_id": "para_1142" }, { "text": "enough force to cause the chair that she struck to break apart—parts of the chair,", "paragraph_id": "para_1143" }, { "text": "Epperson’s glasses, and spilled groceries were pinned underneath her body.", "paragraph_id": "para_1144" }, { "text": "{¶ 162} Additionally, a jury could reasonably infer that while Epperson was", "paragraph_id": "para_1145" }, { "text": "lying face down on the floor, Roberts took the time either to unclip both ends of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1146" }, { "text": "strap of Epperson’s purse and place the strap around her neck or to remove the", "paragraph_id": "para_1147" }, { "text": "purse from around her body and place the strap around her neck. Either way, he", "paragraph_id": "para_1148" }, { "text": "applied enough force to the strap for a long enough time to strangle her until she", "paragraph_id": "para_1149" }, { "text": "died of asphyxia. According to Dr. Schott—based on a reasonable degree of", "paragraph_id": "para_1150" }, { "text": "medical certainty—the cause of Epperson’s death was strangulation. Death", "paragraph_id": "para_1151" }, { "text": "occurred within a few minutes. The pressure Roberts applied to the strap of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1152" }, { "text": "purse caused a furrow in the front of Epperson’s neck and intramuscular", "paragraph_id": "para_1153" }, { "text": "hemorrhages in the back of her neck.", "paragraph_id": "para_1154" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_1155" }, { "text": "40", "paragraph_id": "para_1156" }, { "text": "{¶ 163} Roberts’s acts of violently attacking Epperson, strangling her, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1157", "court_paragraph": 40 }, { "text": "applying enough force for a long enough time to cause death are overwhelming", "paragraph_id": "para_1158" }, { "text": "evidence that he acted with purpose to cause Epperson’s death.", "paragraph_id": "para_1159" }, { "text": "c. Prior calculation and design", "paragraph_id": "para_1160" }, { "text": "{¶ 164} As noted above, for Roberts to be convicted of aggravated murder", "paragraph_id": "para_1161" }, { "text": "under R.C. 2903.01(A), the State had to prove that he acted with prior calculation", "paragraph_id": "para_1162" }, { "text": "and design, and pertinent to our consideration in determining whether Roberts acted", "paragraph_id": "para_1163" }, { "text": "with prior calculation and design are (1) the relationship between Roberts and", "paragraph_id": "para_1164" }, { "text": "Epperson, (2) whether Roberts gave thought or preparation to choosing the murder", "paragraph_id": "para_1165" }, { "text": "weapon or murder site, and (3) whether the act was drawn out, see Franklin, 2002-", "paragraph_id": "para_1166" }, { "text": "Ohio-5304, at ¶ 56.", "paragraph_id": "para_1167" }, { "text": "i. The relationship between the accused and the victim", "paragraph_id": "para_1168" }, { "text": "{¶ 165} There is overwhelming evidence that the relationship between", "paragraph_id": "para_1169" }, { "text": "Roberts and Epperson was strained.", "paragraph_id": "para_1170" }, { "text": "{¶ 166} Roberts and Epperson were not strangers—Epperson was Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1171" }, { "text": "mother. But no witness who testified at trial knew the exact nature of their", "paragraph_id": "para_1172" }, { "text": "relationship. And based on the totality of the evidence, a jury could infer that", "paragraph_id": "para_1173" }, { "text": "Roberts’s relationship with Epperson was strained.", "paragraph_id": "para_1174" }, { "text": "{¶ 167} Roberts was having problems with some of his family members, so", "paragraph_id": "para_1175" }, { "text": "he went to live with his paternal aunt in Augusta in June 2019. Whether Epperson", "paragraph_id": "para_1176" }, { "text": "was one of the family members Roberts was having problems with is unknown, but", "paragraph_id": "para_1177" }, { "text": "it is telling that he moved in with his aunt instead of with Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_1178" }, { "text": "{¶ 168} Williams believed that Epperson and Roberts had a close, loving", "paragraph_id": "para_1179" }, { "text": "relationship. But she based that opinion on the facts that Epperson spoke to her son", "paragraph_id": "para_1180" }, { "text": "on the phone every week, paid his cellphone bill, paid his rent for an apartment in", "paragraph_id": "para_1181" }, { "text": "which he no longer lived, and sent him money every week. When pressed about", "paragraph_id": "para_1182" }, { "text": "Epperson and Roberts’s relationship, however, Williams admitted that she could", "paragraph_id": "para_1183" }, { "text": "only say what she had seen. She did not know the inner workings of that", "paragraph_id": "para_1184" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_1185" }, { "text": "41", "paragraph_id": "para_1186" }, { "text": "relationship or even whether Epperson had always been present in Roberts’s life.", "paragraph_id": "para_1187", "court_paragraph": 41 }, { "text": "What Williams did know is that in the days before the murder, when Epperson", "paragraph_id": "para_1188" }, { "text": "learned that Roberts had left Williams’s home, Epperson became very concerned.", "paragraph_id": "para_1189" }, { "text": "In fact, Epperson was apparently so concerned that she uncharacteristically took a", "paragraph_id": "para_1190" }, { "text": "personal day off work on July 31.", "paragraph_id": "para_1191" }, { "text": "{¶ 169} Further, evidence shows that Roberts left Augusta on July 29 and", "paragraph_id": "para_1192" }, { "text": "did not tell his mother that he was leaving Georgia or that he was going to Ohio. It", "paragraph_id": "para_1193" }, { "text": "is clear that he did not tell his mother, because, according to Williams, she and", "paragraph_id": "para_1194" }, { "text": "Epperson were in contact “every day, all day” on July 29 and 30 while they were", "paragraph_id": "para_1195" }, { "text": "trying to locate Roberts. And it is also clear that Roberts did not contact his mother", "paragraph_id": "para_1196" }, { "text": "on the evening of July 30 to let her know that he was at a McDonald’s less than two", "paragraph_id": "para_1197" }, { "text": "miles from her apartment, because on the morning of July 31, Epperson called the", "paragraph_id": "para_1198" }, { "text": "Richmond County (Georgia) Jail and four Augusta-area hospitals trying to locate", "paragraph_id": "para_1199" }, { "text": "him. Williams testified that she had learned where Roberts was only when she was", "paragraph_id": "para_1200" }, { "text": "notified that Epperson had been murdered. Had Epperson known where Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_1201" }, { "text": "was prior to her death, she very likely would have told Williams, given that she", "paragraph_id": "para_1202" }, { "text": "knew he had Williams’s car and she and Williams had been in contact with each", "paragraph_id": "para_1203" }, { "text": "other concerning his whereabouts.", "paragraph_id": "para_1204" }, { "text": "{¶ 170} Moreover, Epperson believed that she had Roberts’s correct email", "paragraph_id": "para_1205" }, { "text": "address that was tied to Roberts’s account with his cellphone-service provider; it", "paragraph_id": "para_1206" }, { "text": "was written on the paperwork in her home. She attempted to locate Roberts by", "paragraph_id": "para_1207" }, { "text": "tracking his cellphone using the email address that she had in her notes. But", "paragraph_id": "para_1208" }, { "text": "Epperson’s attempts to locate Roberts were unsuccessful; she had written in her", "paragraph_id": "para_1209" }, { "text": "notes that the website “won’t show location if phone is powered off or data is turned", "paragraph_id": "para_1210" }, { "text": "off.” But Epperson made the notation that the cellphone-service provider told her", "paragraph_id": "para_1211" }, { "text": "the data was in fact turned on. A jury could reasonably infer that Epperson had", "paragraph_id": "para_1212" }, { "text": "tried to locate Roberts using the tracking function of his phone but that Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1213" }, { "text": "attempts did not work because Roberts did not want to be located and had in some", "paragraph_id": "para_1214" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_1215" }, { "text": "42", "paragraph_id": "para_1216" }, { "text": "way changed the settings on the phone or powered the phone off so that it could not", "paragraph_id": "para_1217", "court_paragraph": 42 }, { "text": "be tracked.", "paragraph_id": "para_1218" }, { "text": "{¶ 171} Only two people knew the true nature of Roberts and Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1219" }, { "text": "relationship, and one of them is dead and the other is accused of killing her.", "paragraph_id": "para_1220" }, { "text": "{¶ 172} Based on the totality of this evidence, a jury could reasonably infer", "paragraph_id": "para_1221" }, { "text": "that Roberts’s relationship with his mother was strained. When Roberts was having", "paragraph_id": "para_1222" }, { "text": "problems with his family, he did not move in with his mother. Instead, he moved", "paragraph_id": "para_1223" }, { "text": "in with his paternal aunt in Augusta, Georgia. And when Epperson learned that", "paragraph_id": "para_1224" }, { "text": "Roberts left his aunt’s home on July 29, she became very concerned. She", "paragraph_id": "para_1225" }, { "text": "uncharacteristically took a day off work on July 31 and attempted to locate him by", "paragraph_id": "para_1226" }, { "text": "calling a jail and hospitals in Augusta and by trying to track his cellphone. But", "paragraph_id": "para_1227" }, { "text": "Epperson’s attempt to track his cellphone was unsuccessful, most likely because", "paragraph_id": "para_1228" }, { "text": "Roberts had changed the settings on the phone or the phone was powered off.", "paragraph_id": "para_1229" }, { "text": "{¶ 173} Moreover, when Roberts left Augusta and was on his way to", "paragraph_id": "para_1230" }, { "text": "Cincinnati, he did not tell Epperson. It can reasonably be inferred that when", "paragraph_id": "para_1231" }, { "text": "Roberts was in Cincinnati and less than two miles from Epperson’s home, he did", "paragraph_id": "para_1232" }, { "text": "not want her to know.", "paragraph_id": "para_1233" }, { "text": "ii. Thought or preparation in choosing the murder weapon or murder site", "paragraph_id": "para_1234" }, { "text": "{¶ 174} There is overwhelming evidence that Roberts gave thought to how", "paragraph_id": "para_1235" }, { "text": "and where he would murder Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_1236" }, { "text": "{¶ 175} Regarding the method of murder, Roberts chose strangulation.", "paragraph_id": "para_1237" }, { "text": "While processing Epperson’s car in Indiana, Criminalist Pham found in Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1238" }, { "text": "backpack a book called The Egyptian Cat Mystery. A place in the book was marked", "paragraph_id": "para_1239" }, { "text": "with an envelope. And the illustration on that page showed a man lying on the", "paragraph_id": "para_1240" }, { "text": "ground, on his back, with another man standing over him and strangling him with", "paragraph_id": "para_1241" }, { "text": "his bare hands.", "paragraph_id": "para_1242" }, { "text": "{¶ 176} Roberts also chose the nature of the attack. When Epperson entered", "paragraph_id": "para_1243" }, { "text": "her apartment, she was violently attacked. Crime-scene photos show that she did", "paragraph_id": "para_1244" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_1245" }, { "text": "43", "paragraph_id": "para_1246" }, { "text": "not have time to set her groceries down; the groceries were still in their bags and", "paragraph_id": "para_1247", "court_paragraph": 43 }, { "text": "strewn across the floor—some were pinned under Epperson’s body. A jury could", "paragraph_id": "para_1248" }, { "text": "reasonably infer that once Epperson was face down on the floor, Roberts took the", "paragraph_id": "para_1249" }, { "text": "time to unclip both ends of the strap of Epperson’s purse, place the strap around her", "paragraph_id": "para_1250" }, { "text": "neck, and apply enough pressure to the strap for a long enough time to strangle", "paragraph_id": "para_1251" }, { "text": "Epperson to death. Or a jury could reasonably infer that Roberts took the time to", "paragraph_id": "para_1252" }, { "text": "remove the purse from around Epperson’s body and strangle her with its strap for", "paragraph_id": "para_1253" }, { "text": "a long enough time to kill her. Either way, Roberts chose the murder weapon when", "paragraph_id": "para_1254" }, { "text": "he intentionally used the strap so as to strangle Epperson with it.", "paragraph_id": "para_1255" }, { "text": "{¶ 177} Roberts also decided where he would murder Epperson. He drove", "paragraph_id": "para_1256" }, { "text": "Williams’s Honda Pilot from Augusta to Epperson’s apartment complex in", "paragraph_id": "para_1257" }, { "text": "Cincinnati and parked in the lot adjacent to her apartment building. He had made", "paragraph_id": "para_1258" }, { "text": "sure that his phone could not be tracked, either by changing its settings or powering", "paragraph_id": "para_1259" }, { "text": "it off, and he did not contact his mother to tell her where he was.", "paragraph_id": "para_1260" }, { "text": "{¶ 178} Additionally, there was no damage to the locks or door of", "paragraph_id": "para_1261" }, { "text": "Epperson’s apartment. When Criminalist Pham processed Epperson’s Honda", "paragraph_id": "para_1262" }, { "text": "CR-V in Indiana, he found a key to Epperson’s apartment in Roberts’s backpack.", "paragraph_id": "para_1263" }, { "text": "{¶ 179} Based on this evidence, a jury could reasonably infer one of three", "paragraph_id": "para_1264" }, { "text": "things. One, Roberts let himself into Epperson’s apartment and lay in wait for her", "paragraph_id": "para_1265" }, { "text": "to come home and attacked her as she entered the apartment. Two, Roberts sat in", "paragraph_id": "para_1266" }, { "text": "the Honda Pilot in the lot adjacent to Epperson’s apartment building, waited for her", "paragraph_id": "para_1267" }, { "text": "to come home, followed her into her apartment as she carried her groceries, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1268" }, { "text": "then attacked her. Three, Roberts walked into the apartment with Epperson and", "paragraph_id": "para_1269" }, { "text": "attacked her as soon as they stepped inside. Whichever way it may have happened,", "paragraph_id": "para_1270" }, { "text": "Roberts chose to murder Epperson in her apartment.", "paragraph_id": "para_1271" }, { "text": "{¶ 180} There is overwhelming evidence that Roberts gave thought in", "paragraph_id": "para_1272" }, { "text": "choosing the murder weapon (purse strap) and the site of the murder (Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1273" }, { "text": "apartment).", "paragraph_id": "para_1274" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_1275" }, { "text": "44", "paragraph_id": "para_1276" }, { "text": "iii. The act was drawn out", "paragraph_id": "para_1277", "court_paragraph": 44 }, { "text": "{¶ 181} There is overwhelming evidence that the act was drawn out. There", "paragraph_id": "para_1278" }, { "text": "are several reasonable possibilities as to when Roberts conceived of his plan to", "paragraph_id": "para_1279" }, { "text": "murder Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_1280" }, { "text": "{¶ 182} A jury could reasonably infer that Roberts formed the plan to kill", "paragraph_id": "para_1281" }, { "text": "Epperson before he left Augusta. The chain of events that ended in Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1282" }, { "text": "death began in Augusta on July 29, 2019, between 9:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., when", "paragraph_id": "para_1283" }, { "text": "Roberts left in Williams’s car. Epperson was last known to be alive when she", "paragraph_id": "para_1284" }, { "text": "bought a meal at Jimmy John’s at 2:31 p.m. on July 31. She was murdered soon", "paragraph_id": "para_1285" }, { "text": "after she entered her apartment carrying her groceries and the Jimmy John’s meal", "paragraph_id": "para_1286" }, { "text": "she had just purchased. Assuming this is what the jury determined, the planning", "paragraph_id": "para_1287" }, { "text": "stage of the murder lasted more than 40 hours.", "paragraph_id": "para_1288" }, { "text": "{¶ 183} Alternatively, a jury could also reasonably infer that Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_1289" }, { "text": "formed the plan to kill Epperson when he was within two miles of Epperson’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1290" }, { "text": "apartment on July 30 at 9:52 p.m. Approximately 17 hours elapsed between that", "paragraph_id": "para_1291" }, { "text": "time and the time Epperson was murdered.", "paragraph_id": "para_1292" }, { "text": "{¶ 184} The totality of the evidence shows that the murder did not occur as", "paragraph_id": "para_1293" }, { "text": "“‘“an almost instantaneous eruption of events,”‘” Franklin, 2002-Ohio-5304, at", "paragraph_id": "para_1294" }, { "text": "¶ 56, quoting Taylor, 1997-Ohio-243, at ¶ 25, quoting Jenkins, 48 Ohio App.2d at", "paragraph_id": "para_1295" }, { "text": "102 (8th Dist.). What is most significant is the fact that Epperson had not had time", "paragraph_id": "para_1296" }, { "text": "to set her groceries down before she was attacked, which establishes that she was", "paragraph_id": "para_1297" }, { "text": "attacked as soon as she walked in the door of her apartment. That means that", "paragraph_id": "para_1298" }, { "text": "Roberts either (1) let himself into her apartment and lay in wait for her with a plan", "paragraph_id": "para_1299" }, { "text": "to kill her or (2) waited in the Honda Pilot in the adjacent parking lot and then", "paragraph_id": "para_1300" }, { "text": "followed her into the apartment with a plan to kill her or (3) accompanied her into", "paragraph_id": "para_1301" }, { "text": "the apartment with a plan to kill her. All these scenarios indicate that there was a", "paragraph_id": "para_1302" }, { "text": "drawn out strategy to kill Epperson that went beyond a momentary impulse.", "paragraph_id": "para_1303" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_1304" }, { "text": "45", "paragraph_id": "para_1305" }, { "text": "{¶ 185} Also, the killing itself was drawn out. Epperson was first violently", "paragraph_id": "para_1306", "court_paragraph": 45 }, { "text": "attacked and knocked to the floor. While she was lying face down on the floor,", "paragraph_id": "para_1307" }, { "text": "Roberts took the time to either unclip the strap of Epperson’s purse or remove the", "paragraph_id": "para_1308" }, { "text": "purse from her body and then place the strap around her neck and apply enough", "paragraph_id": "para_1309" }, { "text": "force for enough time to strangle Epperson to death. Dr. Schott testified that it", "paragraph_id": "para_1310" }, { "text": "would have taken minutes for Epperson to die by strangulation.", "paragraph_id": "para_1311" }, { "text": "{¶ 186} As a result, there is overwhelming evidence that the act was drawn", "paragraph_id": "para_1312" }, { "text": "out.", "paragraph_id": "para_1313" }, { "text": "{¶ 187} Therefore, construing the totality of the evidence, there is", "paragraph_id": "para_1314" }, { "text": "overwhelming evidence that Roberts acted with prior calculation and design.", "paragraph_id": "para_1315" }, { "text": "2. Aggravated Robbery under R.C. 2911.01(A)(3)", "paragraph_id": "para_1316" }, { "text": "{¶ 188} For Roberts to be convicted of aggravated robbery under R.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_1317" }, { "text": "2911.01(A)(3), the State was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that", "paragraph_id": "para_1318" }, { "text": "Roberts, “in attempting or committing a theft offense, as defined in section 2913.01", "paragraph_id": "para_1319" }, { "text": "of the Revised Code, or in fleeing immediately after the attempt or offense, . . .", "paragraph_id": "para_1320" }, { "text": "[i]nflict[ed], or attempt[ed] to inflict, serious physical harm on another.”", "paragraph_id": "para_1321" }, { "text": "{¶ 189} First, Roberts inflicted serious physical harm on Epperson.", "paragraph_id": "para_1322" }, { "text": "Epperson was attacked and knocked to the floor. While she was lying face down,", "paragraph_id": "para_1323" }, { "text": "Roberts placed the strap of her purse around her neck and applied enough force to", "paragraph_id": "para_1324" }, { "text": "the strap for a long enough time to cause her death. The deputy coroner found a", "paragraph_id": "para_1325" }, { "text": "ligature furrow on the front of Epperson’s neck and multiple bilateral conjunctival", "paragraph_id": "para_1326" }, { "text": "hemorrhages in her eyeballs. And according to the deputy coroner, it took minutes", "paragraph_id": "para_1327" }, { "text": "for death to occur. As a result, the physical harm inflicted by Roberts on Epperson", "paragraph_id": "para_1328" }, { "text": "carried a substantial risk of killing her and, in fact, did kill her.", "paragraph_id": "para_1329" }, { "text": "{¶ 190} Second, after killing Epperson, Roberts took her wallet and fled the", "paragraph_id": "para_1330" }, { "text": "scene in her Honda CR-V. He was apprehended later that day in Tipton County,", "paragraph_id": "para_1331" }, { "text": "Indiana—two and a half hours away from Cincinnati—with both her car and her", "paragraph_id": "para_1332" }, { "text": "wallet.", "paragraph_id": "para_1333" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_1334" }, { "text": "46", "paragraph_id": "para_1335" }, { "text": "{¶ 191} A jury could reasonably infer that Roberts attacked and murdered", "paragraph_id": "para_1336", "court_paragraph": 46 }, { "text": "Epperson and stole her property, thereby inflicting serious physical harm while", "paragraph_id": "para_1337" }, { "text": "committing a theft offense.", "paragraph_id": "para_1338" }, { "text": "{¶ 192} Consequently, there is overwhelming evidence that Roberts", "paragraph_id": "para_1339" }, { "text": "committed aggravated robbery.", "paragraph_id": "para_1340" }, { "text": "C. The Appellate Court Lost Its Way", "paragraph_id": "para_1341" }, { "text": "{¶ 193} The First District listed three reasons that it said militate against", "paragraph_id": "para_1342" }, { "text": "concluding that the admission of Roberts’s custodial statements to Lushin and", "paragraph_id": "para_1343" }, { "text": "Williams’s other-acts testimony was harmless error: (1) the DNA of a person other", "paragraph_id": "para_1344" }, { "text": "than Epperson was found in Epperson’s apartment, (2) Epperson’s fingernails were", "paragraph_id": "para_1345" }, { "text": "not tested for DNA, and (3) Roberts had a familial relationship with Epperson, so", "paragraph_id": "para_1346" }, { "text": "he may have had permission to have possession of her wallet, keys, and car, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1347" }, { "text": "there was not sufficient evidence to establish that he did not have permission. See", "paragraph_id": "para_1348" }, { "text": "2024-Ohio-1604 at ¶ 58-59 (1st Dist.).", "paragraph_id": "para_1349" }, { "text": "{¶ 194} But the third part of the Morris test does not ask what is not in", "paragraph_id": "para_1350" }, { "text": "evidence. The third part asks whether after “the prejudicial evidence is excised, the", "paragraph_id": "para_1351" }, { "text": "remaining evidence” establishes the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.", "paragraph_id": "para_1352" }, { "text": "Harris, 2015-Ohio-166, at ¶ 37, citing Morris, 2014-Ohio-5052 at ¶ 29, 33.", "paragraph_id": "para_1353" }, { "text": "{¶ 195} Regarding the court of appeals’ first reason listed, Forensic", "paragraph_id": "para_1354" }, { "text": "Scientist Harry did not testify that the DNA of someone other than Epperson and", "paragraph_id": "para_1355" }, { "text": "Roberts was in Epperson’s apartment. Harry testified that some of the swabs from", "paragraph_id": "para_1356" }, { "text": "Epperson’s apartment contained a mixture of DNA from at least two people, that", "paragraph_id": "para_1357" }, { "text": "Epperson was the major contributor of the DNA, and that the minor contributor of", "paragraph_id": "para_1358" }, { "text": "DNA could not be determined, because the DNA sample was too small to test.", "paragraph_id": "para_1359" }, { "text": "Anyone, including Roberts, could be the minor contributor.", "paragraph_id": "para_1360" }, { "text": "{¶ 196} As for the court of appeals’ second reason, it does not matter that", "paragraph_id": "para_1361" }, { "text": "Epperson’s fingernail clippings were not tested for DNA. We ask whether the", "paragraph_id": "para_1362" }, { "text": "totality of the evidence, including any reasonable inferences drawn from that", "paragraph_id": "para_1363" }, { "text": "January Term, 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_1364" }, { "text": "47", "paragraph_id": "para_1365" }, { "text": "evidence, proves that the accused committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.", "paragraph_id": "para_1366", "court_paragraph": 47 }, { "text": "And here, given the totality of the remaining evidence that Roberts murdered", "paragraph_id": "para_1367" }, { "text": "Epperson, the fact that her fingernail clippings were not tested does not undermine", "paragraph_id": "para_1368" }, { "text": "that determination.", "paragraph_id": "para_1369" }, { "text": "{¶ 197} Regarding the court of appeals’ third reason—the lack of direct", "paragraph_id": "para_1370" }, { "text": "evidence as to whether Roberts had permission to take Epperson’s wallet, keys, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1371" }, { "text": "car—based on the totality of the evidence, it would be unreasonable to infer that", "paragraph_id": "para_1372" }, { "text": "Roberts received permission to take Epperson’s wallet, keys, and car immediately", "paragraph_id": "para_1373" }, { "text": "before he attacked her and strangled her to death in the entryway of her apartment.", "paragraph_id": "para_1374" }, { "text": "D. Manifest-Weight Challenge", "paragraph_id": "para_1375" }, { "text": "{¶ 198} In the court of appeals, Roberts also assigned as error a claim that", "paragraph_id": "para_1376" }, { "text": "his aggravated-murder and aggravated-robbery convictions are against the manifest", "paragraph_id": "para_1377" }, { "text": "weight of the evidence. Based on its holding in the case, the court of appeals", "paragraph_id": "para_1378" }, { "text": "declared this assignment of error moot and declined to address it. 2024-Ohio-1604", "paragraph_id": "para_1379" }, { "text": "at ¶ 5, 103 (1st Dist.). We need not remand this matter for the court of appeals to", "paragraph_id": "para_1380" }, { "text": "review Roberts’s manifest-weight challenge. With our decision that the evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_1381" }, { "text": "against him without the improperly admitted evidence is overwhelming, it is a", "paragraph_id": "para_1382" }, { "text": "foregone conclusion that his convictions for aggravated murder and aggravated", "paragraph_id": "para_1383" }, { "text": "robbery are not against the manifest weight of the evidence. Any remand would be", "paragraph_id": "para_1384" }, { "text": "a futile exercise.", "paragraph_id": "para_1385" }, { "text": "IV. CONCLUSION", "paragraph_id": "para_1386" }, { "text": "{¶ 199} Based on our review of the record after excising the evidence that", "paragraph_id": "para_1387" }, { "text": "the appellate court found was prejudicial and erroneously admitted by the trial", "paragraph_id": "para_1388" }, { "text": "court, we conclude that the remaining evidence overwhelmingly proves Roberts’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1389" }, { "text": "guilt of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery beyond a reasonable doubt.", "paragraph_id": "para_1390" }, { "text": "Therefore, his convictions are supported by sufficient evidence and are not against", "paragraph_id": "para_1391" }, { "text": "the manifest weight of the evidence. For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the", "paragraph_id": "para_1392" }, { "text": "SUPREME COURT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_1393" }, { "text": "48", "paragraph_id": "para_1394" }, { "text": "judgment of the First District Court of Appeals and reinstate Roberts’s convictions", "paragraph_id": "para_1395", "court_paragraph": 48 }, { "text": "for those crimes.", "paragraph_id": "para_1396" }, { "text": "Judgment reversed", "paragraph_id": "para_1397" }, { "text": "and convictions reinstated.", "paragraph_id": "para_1398" }, { "text": "__________________", "paragraph_id": "para_1399" }, { "text": "Connie Pillich, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and Philip R.", "paragraph_id": "para_1400" }, { "text": "Cummings Jr. and Candace Crear, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, for appellant.", "paragraph_id": "para_1401" }, { "text": "Michael J. Trapp, for appellee.", "paragraph_id": "para_1402" }, { "text": "Elizabeth R. Miller, Ohio Public Defender, and Craig M. 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