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9th District affirms father’s involuntary manslaughter sentence in 4-year-old’s shooting death
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: June 14, 2017
A Summit County Common Pleas Court judge did not err by allowing a spouse to testify about acts done against her child by the victim’s father, the 9th District Court of Appeals recently ruled.
Terrance Allen appealed his conviction and sentence.
In 2013, Allen’s 4-year-old son shot himself in the head while riding in the backseat of his father’s car.
According to appellate records, the police found the gun under the passenger’s seat of the car, behind several items.
Allen’s wife, his son, and his stepson were temporarily living with him, even though his wife had a protection order against him.
Allen pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, having a weapon under disability and violating a protection order.
He later argued the trial court erred by accepting his plea and denying his pro se motion to withdraw it.
Allen claimed the court told him his child endangering charge was being dismissed, but then required him to admit he caused his son’s death “as a result of committing the offense of endangering a child.” He alleged the court’s explanation of the charges was not adequate.
However, 9th District Judge Lynne Callahan found Allen was adequately informed of the nature of the charges.
The appellate panel also affirmed Allen’s eight-year sentence.
At sentencing, Allen’s wife talked about the pain she felt about losing her son, called her husband a threat to society and asked the judge to consider his criminal history.
Allen said his defense attorney should have objected to his wife’s statements because they were inadmissible due to the spousal privilege.
However, Judge Callahan noted that the privilege does not prohibit a spouse from testifying about acts done against his or her child.
“Allen faced serious charges and there was little question of his guilt, given that his son shot himself in Allen’s vehicle with Allen’s gun,” she stated in her 3-0 opinion. “Allen’s guilty plea allowed him to avoid convictions on two third-degree felonies. Had he gone to trial on all of his charges, his sentence could have been considerably longer. Accordingly, even if his counsel should have objected to his wife’s statements, Allen has not shown that the error resulted in actual prejudice.”
Appellate judges Jennifer Hensal and Thomas Teodosio concurred.
The case is cited State v. Allen, 2017-Ohio-2831.