The Akron Legal News

Man nabbed for series of southwest Ohio robberies loses appeal

ANNIE YAMSON
Special to the Legal News
Published: October 28, 2014

A serial robber’s appeal was overruled last week when the 1st District Court of Appeals found that the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas committed no error during his trial.

Larry Stone was indicted on 12 counts of robbery and convicted on six counts stemming from a series of Cincinnati robberies that occured over a two-week period last year.

In his appeal, Stone challenged the trial court’s failure to sever the charges and its denial of his motion to suppress evidence.

He also claimed a juror with a felony conviction should not have been removed for cause, that the trial court erred in admitting the expert testimony of a police officer and that his convictions were against the sufficiency and manifest weight of the evidence.

“Because we do not find any merit in Stone’s assignments of error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court,” wrote Judge Patrick Fischer on behalf of the district’s three-judge appellate panel.

According to the facts of the case provided by the court of appeals, the robberies began on Jan. 18, 2013 at Thornton’s gas station on Colerain Avenue in Cincinnati.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., Stephanie Whitehead was working at the gas station when a man entered the store, pulled out a gun and demanded money. Whitehead complied and the man took the cash and fled.

Three days later, a man wearing a hooded jacket with a flame depicted on the side entered a Fish Express on Harrison Avenue. He demanded cash from employee Dale Franklin and displayed a gun.

When Franklin refused to comply, the man took the entire cash register and fled.

The next day, a man in a black hooded jacket robbed a Family Dollar store on Burlington Place.

Employee Larry Santana had just opened the cash register when a male patron in a black hooded jacket lunged over the counter, grabbed the cash inside and ran.

On Jan. 24, Leyumel Feyissa was working at a Sunoco gas station when it was robbed by a hooded man.

Five days later, on the 29th, Cynthia Hartley was working at a Shell station on Calhoun Street when a man with a gun robbed the place and was seen driving away in a blue SUV.

The next day, a man in a hooded coat approached a pay window at a Shell station on Liberty Street.

Though the robber brandished a gun and demanded money, employee Laquette Hill refused to comply because the glass at the walk-up window was bulletproof. The robber ran off without any money.

Stone was apprehended when Police Officer Kimberly Horning, who had investigated the Liberty Street Shell robbery, responded to a call where a man was threatening a woman with a gun.

When Horning arrived, the man identified himself as Stone and informed the officer that he had been arguing with a woman because she had failed to return his blue Dodge Durango.

He admitted he had a BB gun he had discarded in a nearby yard.

Horning recognized Stone’s attire from the Shell station surveillance video and she took him to the police station, initially charging Stone with aggravated menacing.

During subsequent questioning, Stone initially denied involvement in the robberies.

Eventually, however, he admitted to attempting to rob the Liberty Street Shell with a BB gun.

With the consent of Stone’s wife, police searched his home and recovered a black bubble jacket and orange thermal shirt which matched the attire of the perpetrator in the Sunoco and Family Dollar robberies.

They also found a hooded jacket with flames depicted on the side, matching the clothing described in the Fish Express robbery.

Investigators also presented photo arrays to the witnesses.

Whitehead, Franklin, Feyissa and Johnson all identified Stone as the robber.

Santana identified Stone but said he could not do so with certainty. Hartley and Hill were unable to identify anyone.

Following his indictment and prior to trial, Stone moved to suppress the pretrial identifications made by the witnesses and his statements to police.

Those motions were denied and the case proceeded to trial where the state presented witness testimony, surveillance video and the expert testimony of Officer Alice Stallcup.

Stallcup worked in the forensic video unit for the Cincinnati police and was responsible for analyzing surveillance video of crime suspects.

She testified regarding the process she used to identify and compare the clothing worn by the robber and the clothing found in Stone’s home.

In his defense, Stone took the stand and denied all involvement in the robberies but did not present any other witnesses.

After the jury found him guilty of six counts of robbery, the trial court sentenced Stone to a total prison term of 24 years.

Upon direct appeal, Stone contended that the trial court should have granted his motion to sever the charges in his 12-count indictment, which would have resulted in 12 different trials, one for each alleged robbery.

“Stone argues that trying the offenses together allowed the state to improperly portray him as a serial robber,” wrote Judge Fischer.

The appellate panel found that Stone’s offenses were “of the same or similar character” so that joinder was proper.

“The state negates Stone’s claim of prejudice by arguing that the evidence pertaining to each robbery offense was simple and direct,” wrote Judge Fischer. “Although the crimes were similar in character, the jury could distinguish among each robbery.”

The appellate panel also overruled Stone’s claim that the trial court should have suppressed statements he made to police.

According to Stone, he told police, “I’m lawyering up” and the investigators continued questioning.

He maintained that his statement was a request for counsel and that questioning should have stopped.

“However, Stone had then continued the conversation with police by his own initiative,” wrote Judge Fischer.

The appellate panel consulted the recording of the police interview and determined that after Stone indicated his wish to “lawyer up,” he asked to speak to Officer Horning alone and then voluntarily admitted his involvement in the Liberty Street Shell robbery.

“Thus, the trial court properly denied Stone’s motion to suppress his statements,” wrote Judge Fischer.

The appellate panel went on to rule that Stallcup’s testimony was admissible and that Stone’s convictions were supported by sufficient evidence with no manifest miscarriage of justice.

“The judgment of the trial court is affirmed,” Judge Fischer concluded.

Presiding Judge Patrick Dinkelacker and Judge Patrick DeWine concurred.

The case is cited State v. Stone, 2014-Ohio-4444.

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