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9th District affirms Lorain County murder case
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: September 21, 2020
The 9th District Court of Appeals recently affirmed the convictions in a Lorain County murder in which the defendant argued police had the wrong shooter.
On March 1, 2018, the Lorain County Grand Jury issued a 13-count indictment against Marlon Johnson related to the shooting death of T.D. The indictment charged Johnson with three counts of aggravated murder, three counts of murder, two counts of aggravated burglary, unlawful use of a weapon by a violent career criminal, two counts of felonious assault and two counts of having weapons while under disability.
Johnson was found guilty on all counts after an April 2019 jury trial and sentenced to 54 years to life in prison.
On appeal, Johnson argued the state failed to prove he was the shooter, and that the witnesses who testified against him were under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
At trial, the state presented testimony from three people who were at the scene of the shooting, M.D., T.M., W.M., a close friend of Johnson’s.
W.M. testified that around 1:30 a.m. the night of the shooting, a group had gathered at his family’s house with plans to go to a bar together. The group included Johnson and his girlfriend.
W.M. testified that while he was upstairs changing, he heard a commotion and came downstairs. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Johnson dragging his girlfriend by her leg. Johnson immediately dropped his girlfriend’s leg, apologized for disrespecting W.M.’s house and retreated out the back door.
W.M. testified that T.D. also lived at the house and was often responsible for making sure the door was locked and that no unwanted people came in. W.M. acknowledged that people had, in the past, been arrested for selling drugs out of the house.
W.M. testified that Johnson would not have been welcome at his home after the incident and that he believed Johnson would have understood that to be the case.
Johnson testified that the man who came with him to the house the night of the shooting, T.P., was the person who shot and killed victim T.D.
Johnson stated he met up with T.P. at an after-hours club and the two decided to go to W.M.’s house to try to buy some crack. Johnson stated that when they arrived at the house, he knocked on the back door several times before T.D. opened the door. Johnson said he and T.P. entered the house and T.D. closed the door. He testified that he then heard a gunshot, turned, and saw T.P. with a gun and chasing T.D.
Johnson claimed he then took the gun from T.P., so no one else would get hurt. T.P. then began threatening everyone in the house and told Johnson to leave before he shot him too, according to his testimony.
However, M.D. testified that she saw Johnson point a gun at T.D. and shoot, appellate Judge Julie A. Schafer noted in her 3-0 opinion.
“Mr. Johnson next argues that the state’s witnesses are not credible because they were all ‘high and drunk.’ The evidence presented at trial does not support this contention,” Schafer added. “W.M. was the only witness that acknowledged consuming any alcohol or drugs the night of the shooting.
“T.M. specifically testified that he had not been drinking or doing drugs and no evidence was admitted to contradict his statement. Though M.D. testified that she had not been drinking or doing drugs the evening of the incident, Det. Sivert testified that his report indicates that when he spoke to M.D. the morning of the shooting, M.D. did state she had consumed a small amount of alcohol. Det. Sivert further testified on cross-examination that M.D. did not appear intoxicated during his conversation with her. Regardless, a witness’s intoxication does not render his or her testimony per se incredible, and is instead, one of many factors that may be weighed by the jury in assessing his or her credibility.
“Having reviewed the record, we cannot conclude that the jury clearly lost its way when it convicted Mr. Johnson in this case.”
Appellate judges Lynne Callahan and Thomas Teodosio concurred. The case is cited State v. Johnson, 2020-Ohio-4178.