Case Title: State v. Roberts

Citation: 2006-Ohio-3665

Docket Number: 20031441

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2006-08-02T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Cite as State v. Roberts, 110 Ohio St.3d 71, 2006-Ohio-3665.] 
 
 
The STATE of OHIO, APPELLEE, v. ROBERTS, APPELLANT. 
[Cite as State v. Roberts, 110 Ohio St.3d 71, 2006-Ohio-3665.] 
Criminal law — Aggravated murder — Convictions affirmed — Court’s ex parte 
communication with prosecutor invalidates sentencing opinion — Death 
penalty vacated and resentencing ordered. 
(No. 2003-1441 — Submitted January 24, 2006 — Decided August 2, 2006.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Common Pleas for Trumbull County,  
No. 01-CR-793. 
__________________ 
 
O’CONNOR, J. 
{¶ 1} At 12:01 a.m., December 12, 2001, the appellant, Donna M. 
Roberts, phoned 911 to report the death of her former husband, Robert Fingerhut, 
at the home they shared in Howland Township, Trumbull County, Ohio.  After 
investigating, the police learned that Roberts and Nathaniel Jackson had plotted to 
kill Fingerhut while Jackson was in prison in the months preceding the murder.  
Subsequently, the pair were arrested and indicted. 
{¶ 2} Jackson was convicted of the aggravated murder of Fingerhut and 
was sentenced to death, a conviction and sentence that we have affirmed.  See 
State v. Jackson, 107 Ohio St.3d 300, 2006-Ohio-1, 839 N.E.2d 362.  In a 
separate trial, Roberts was found guilty of the aggravated murder of Fingerhut and 
was also sentenced to death. 
{¶ 3} Roberts now appeals, raising an array of challenges to her 
conviction and sentence.  Although we reject all of Roberts’s attacks on her 
conviction, because of the trial judge’s ex parte use of the prosecutor in directly 
preparing the court’s sentencing opinion, we must vacate the sentence and remand 
the case to the trial court for resentencing. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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RELEVANT BACKGROUND 
{¶ 4} The facts taken in the light favorable to the state establish the 
following facts. 
{¶ 5} Donna Roberts met Robert Fingerhut in Florida in 1983; they 
married, but were divorced soon thereafter.  According to Roberts, the divorce 
was for financial and business reasons — i.e., that Fingerhut wanted to shelter and 
protect assets in case his business was sued or collapsed. 
{¶ 6} The couple moved to Ohio and established a home on Fonderlac 
Drive in Howland Township, Warren, Ohio.  Fingerhut bought two Greyhound 
bus terminals – one in Warren and one in Youngstown – and began operating 
them.  Those assets and almost all others were listed in Roberts’s name. 
{¶ 7} Despite the divorce, Fingerhut appears to have continued to treat 
Roberts as his wife, referring to her as such in many of his business dealings.  
Most people who dealt with Roberts and Fingerhut assumed that they were 
married.  Roberts similarly maintains that, in her mind, she did not consider 
herself divorced because she and Fingerhut were a devout, loving couple. 
{¶ 8} Notwithstanding her feelings for Fingerhut, at some point during 
that relationship, Roberts met Nathaniel Jackson and began an affair with him.  
The liaison was interrupted in 2001, when Jackson was incarcerated in the Lorain 
Correctional Institution.  Upon his release, however, they were reunited. 
{¶ 9} On December 6, 2001, Roberts reserved and paid for a Jacuzzi 
suite in Jackson’s name at the Wagon Wheel Motel in Boardman.  Three days 
later, Jackson and Roberts spent the night in that room. 
{¶ 10} Over the next several days, the pair were seen together at various 
places.  A day or two before Fingerhut’s death, Frank Reynolds, then an employee 
of the Greyhound bus terminal in Youngstown, saw Roberts and Jackson kissing 
and talking with one another near the terminal before Fingerhut arrived for work.  
Earlier, Reynolds had overheard Roberts asking Fingerhut for $3,000.  Fingerhut 
January Term, 2006 
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had refused.  According to Reynolds, Roberts was nervous and shaking and gave 
Fingerhut “the dirtiest look.” 
{¶ 11} On December 11, 2001, Greyhound bus driver Jim McCoy saw 
Fingerhut working at the Youngstown terminal at approximately 4:30 p.m.  
Fingerhut was the only person working that afternoon. 
{¶ 12} Soon after seeing Fingerhut in the terminal, McCoy drove his bus 
to Warren.  He saw Roberts and Jackson at the Warren terminal, and Jackson told 
McCoy, “[W]e’re trying to get out of here.”  On December 11, a server at the Red 
Lobster restaurant in Niles waited on a couple she later identified as Roberts and 
Jackson.  The two paid for their dinner at 6:43 p.m. and left the restaurant. 
{¶ 13} Fingerhut left the Youngstown bus terminal around 9:00 p.m. on 
December 11, telling the security guard on duty that he was leaving early for the 
evening.  Around 9:30 p.m., a neighbor observed Roberts driving her car very 
slowly on Old State Route 82 near their homes, even though no one else was on 
the road at the time. 
{¶ 14} Later that night, Roberts went to the Days Inn in Boardman to 
reserve a room for the following week.  She was alone and paced around the 
lobby.  The room receipt indicates that she paid for the room at 11:33 p.m. 
{¶ 15} At 12:01 a.m., December 12, 2001, Trumbull County authorities 
received a 911 call from Roberts, who was screaming hysterically that there was 
something wrong with her husband.  Upon arriving at the home, police found 
Fingerhut’s body on the kitchen floor near the door to the garage. 
{¶ 16} A Trumbull County forensic pathologist, Dr. Humphrey 
Germaniuk, observed Fingerhut’s body at the crime scene and later performed an 
autopsy.  Fingerhut had sustained lacerations and abrasions to his left hand and 
head, as well as multiple gunshot wounds to his head, chest, and back.  Dr. 
Germaniuk concluded that the gunshot to Fingerhut’s head was the cause of 
death. 
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{¶ 17} During the crime-scene search, police found a fully loaded .38-
caliber revolver near Fingerhut’s body.  A firearms expert with the Bureau of 
Criminal Identification and Investigation (“BCI”) later concluded that the bullets 
recovered from the home and Fingerhut’s body were fired from the same weapon, 
either a .38-caliber special or a .357 Magnum, but that none of the bullets had 
been fired from the revolver found near Fingerhut’s body. 
{¶ 18} During the hours immediately following Roberts’s 911 call, police 
observed that her emotional state fluctuated.  At times, she was calm and quiet, 
and at other times she was crying or screaming, “Oh, my Robert, my Robert.”  
Two detectives noticed that when police investigators talked extensively, they no 
longer heard Roberts shouting.  When a detective checked on Roberts in her 
bedroom because she had been quiet, she began shouting again upon seeing him.  
One officer at the scene remarked that he “didn’t notice any tears coming from 
[Roberts’s] eyes” when she appeared to be crying. 
{¶ 19} In this period of initial investigation, Roberts told police that she 
had left work at the Greyhound bus terminal in Warren at 5:30 that evening, had 
dined alone at a Red Lobster restaurant, and had then gone home.  According to 
Roberts, Fingerhut called her and said he would be late coming home and 
suggested that she go shopping.  Roberts said she had left her home at 9:00 p.m. 
and had gone to several stores.  When she returned home shortly before midnight, 
she found Fingerhut lying on the floor, bleeding from the face.  She also stated 
that her husband’s car was not at the house. 
{¶ 20} Eventually, police arranged for Roberts’s brother to pick her up 
while they continued to secure the scene and collect evidence.  Before Roberts left 
the house, Detective Sergeant Paul Monroe told Roberts that the house was a 
crime scene and that police needed to search the house and everything in it, 
including the garage and cars.  Roberts allegedly replied, “Do whatever you have 
to do to catch the bastard.” 
January Term, 2006 
5 
{¶ 21} At 3:38 a.m. that morning, police were still at the house 
investigating.  The phone rang, and Detective Sergeant Monroe answered it.  
There was a pause, and then the caller hung up.  Detective Monroe traced the call 
to Roberts’s cell phone. 
{¶ 22} Around 10:00 a.m. that morning, Detective Monroe visited Roberts 
at her brother’s home.  At that time, Roberts gave police written consent to 
continue searching the residence. 
{¶ 23} Later, on the afternoon of December 12, Roberts met with Sergeant 
Frank Dillon and Detective Sergeant Monroe at the police station.  Roberts 
described her “loving relationship” with Fingerhut but also stated that she and 
Fingerhut were a “cool couple” and that he “did his thing, she did hers.” 
{¶ 24} She described Fingerhut as “go[ing] both ways” and said that he 
had a friend named “Bobby.”  She recalled that about a week and a half before the 
murder, Fingerhut was acting kind of “nutty,” and she had thought the behavior 
was because of his relationship with Bobby. 
{¶ 25} Roberts also stated that she had been having a sexual relationship 
with a man named Carlos for six months.  She additionally indicated that she had 
a friend named Santiago whom she had tried to help, but that he had stolen money 
and a gun from her.  When Detective Monroe asked Roberts whether she had 
relationships with anyone else, Roberts replied, “No, there’s nobody else.  I told 
you everybody.” 
{¶ 26} Monroe then asked her about a man named Nate Jackson, and 
Roberts said, “Yes, I forgot about him.”  Roberts admitted that she had been 
dating Jackson for two years and that he had called her from prison and had 
exchanged letters with her.  Roberts claimed that she had last seen Jackson on 
December 9, when she picked him up at Lorain Correctional Institution and had 
then left him in Youngstown at a house on Wirt Street.  Roberts added that she 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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had last spoken to Jackson over the telephone rather than in person on the 
morning of December 11. 
{¶ 27} Detective Monroe asked Roberts whether she had a cell phone and 
whether he could look at it.  Roberts searched her purse and said that she had left 
it at home.  Monroe then told Roberts that a call originating from her cell phone 
had been placed to the crime scene at 3:38 that morning.  Roberts said, “Nate 
must have had the phone.  He’s always borrowing it.” 
{¶ 28} In the ensuing week and a half, police continued to investigate and 
learned that Jackson and Roberts had spent a night together at the Wagon Wheel 
Motel and that Roberts had registered at the Days Inn and had paid for one week’s 
rental. 
{¶ 29} Police and a BCI agent located and retrieved evidence, including 
Jackson’s fingerprints, from the room at the Days Inn in which Jackson had 
stayed.  Police also recovered a garbage bag in a dumpster at the motel that had 
come from Jackson’s room.  That bag contained a bottle of peroxide, used 
bandages, and gauze with blood that was consistent with Jackson’s DNA profile. 
{¶ 30} Police learned that Fingerhut had taken out two life insurance 
policies on his life, naming Roberts as sole beneficiary.  The aggregate benefit of 
the policies amounted to $550,000. 
{¶ 31} On December 12, police found Fingerhut’s abandoned vehicle in 
Youngstown, approximately three blocks from Wirt Street.  A forensic specialist 
found blood on the driver’s side visor and on other areas inside the automobile.  
Subsequent scientific analysis determined that blood on the visor contained a 
mixture consistent with both Jackson’s and Fingerhut’s DNA profiles.  Blood 
recovered from the trunk release inside the car contained a DNA mixture with a 
major profile that was consistent with Jackson’s DNA and a minor profile 
consistent with Fingerhut’s DNA.  The frequency for Jackson’s DNA on the trunk 
release was one in 45 quintillion, 170 quadrillion in the Caucasian population, and 
January Term, 2006 
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one in 29 quadrillion, 860 trillion in the African-American population.  Jackson is 
African-American. 
{¶ 32} Cell-phone records indicated that a number of phone calls were 
made on December 11 between 9:45 p.m. and 11:44 p.m. from the cell phone that 
Roberts said Jackson had borrowed from her and a cell phone located in Roberts’s 
vehicle. 
{¶ 33} Additional evidence implicated Roberts and Jackson in the murder.  
As noted previously, Roberts had admitted to police that she and Jackson had 
exchanged letters and telephone calls during his incarceration.  During their initial 
search of the home, police discovered more than 140 letters and cards written by 
Jackson to Roberts, most of which were addressed to Roberts at a post office box 
in Warren. 
{¶ 34} Police also found a brown paper bag with Jackson’s name on it in 
the trunk of Roberts’s car, which had been parked in the garage at their residence.  
The bag contained clothing and approximately 140 handwritten letters, dated 
between October and December 2001, sent by Roberts to Jackson. 
{¶ 35} Passages from letters exchanged between Jackson and Roberts 
suggested strongly that there had been a plot to murder Fingerhut.  Many of the 
letters described the couple’s physical relationship and plans for Jackson’s 
release, as well as references to how they would deal with Fingerhut once Jackson 
was out of prison. 
{¶ 36} For example, in a letter from early October 2001, Jackson wrote 
Roberts:1  “[W]hy don’t you leave Robert an lets carry on with a world of our 
own?  Or let me do what I was gonna do to him, because you know that – that was 
our little thing so you better not go an try to get know one else to do it, because I 
told you its getting done when I come home * * *.”  Less than a week later, 
Jackson wrote Roberts:  “Donna I got it already planned out on how we are gonna 
                                                          
 
1.  The words used in Jackson’s letters are presented verbatim.  
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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take care of the Robert situation?  An baby its the best plan ever!  Because Donna 
its now time that we really be together so that we can really see the true side of 
our love because I’m tired of not being able to be with you * * *.” 
{¶ 37} Soon thereafter, Jackson again expressed his desire to be with 
Roberts and to be rid of Fingerhut: “Donna I don’t care what you say but Robert 
has to go!  An I’m not gonna let you stop me this time.  An Donna you know that 
I’ve always wanted to live my life with you an only you but everytime that I 
wanted to take care of the situation by myself you wouldn’t never let me.  * * *  
Because you wouldn’t let me do what I wanted to do to make you happy an that 
was get rid of him!  So Donna can I do this so that we can go on an live happy?  
An then maybe we can sell the house an move on to somewhere else in our own 
world.  An I’m not gonna be happy until that happens!” 
{¶ 38} Roberts responded to Jackson with her own letters.  In one from 
mid-October 2001, she indicated her frustration over limits that Fingerhut 
apparently had imposed on her spending and her apparent agreement to Jackson’s 
plan for Fingerhut’s murder.  She wrote, “You know you can always count on me 
— you always could.  It’ll just be a little tougher now because he gives me $100 a 
week for everything and then makes me write checks to keep track of it all.  And I 
haven’t been ALLOWED to use any of my 52 charge cards – emergency only.  I 
am not used to living like this.  I am used to having plenty of cash for whatever I 
want & buying everything I want.  Maybe those days will return again soon.  Do 
whatever you want to him ASAP.  Amen.”  Jackson replied, “An then after that 
you don’t ever have to worry about making know more excuses to him, because 
he will no longer be with us after 12-10-01 an then it’ll be me an you totally an 
completely * * *.”  Within that same passage, Jackson drew a tombstone with the 
inscription, “Rest In Piss,” before continuing, “Hey Donna just think come 12-11-
01 you’ll be waking up to me or maybe we’ll give it a couple of days to let things 
look cool an then after the funeral baby when I come home I’m never leaving an 
January Term, 2006 
9 
we’re only doing it like that just to make it look good * * *.  Alls I need is for my 
baby not to worry an leave everything else up to me.” 
{¶ 39} Jackson’s subsequent letters further evinced the developing plan to 
deal with “the Robert problem.”  Jackson wrote, “Yes I’m taking care of that the 
next night, because I told you I’m tired of living like this when I don’t have to.  
An after that will you get me a 2002 Cadillac Deville?”  In that same letter, 
Jackson wrote:  “An even if I gotta come to the house and shoot Robert in his 
fucking head you’re gonna be with me.” 
{¶ 40} The letters also indicate a role for Roberts in the scheme.  An 
October letter from Jackson reads, “Well I see now you know that I’m about my 
business when I get out as far as our little situation?  An get me a size large 
leather gloves an see if you can find me a ski mask hat okay?  An I need them 
handcuffs you have an its mandatory, so get them for me, because the way that 
I’m gonna do it is gonna be right okay?”  About two weeks before the murder, 
Roberts wrote to Jackson: “I also went to 4 stores and finally found your ski mask 
& boxers & a pair of beautiful fleeced lined black leather gloves.” 
{¶ 41} Though the words written in those letters were significant evidence 
of the planning of the murder, the state also marshaled the actual words spoken 
between Roberts and Jackson. 
{¶ 42} Prison authorities at Lorain Correctional Institute routinely record 
telephone conversations of prisoners and maintain the recordings for at least six 
months.  Eighteen phone calls between Roberts and Jackson were recorded 
electronically.  Those recordings also reflect the plot to murder. 
{¶ 43} For example, in a recorded conversation between Jackson and 
Roberts on October 25, 2001, the following colloquy took place: 
{¶ 44} “[JACKSON]:  I’ll be home to you.  December 9th all the worries 
will be over baby. 
{¶ 45} “* * *  
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{¶ 46} “[JACKSON]:  The next day out, I’m goin to – I already got it in 
my mind, my mind made up.  I’m goin to go ahead and do that the next day, okay.  
All right. 
{¶ 47} “[ROBERTS]:  Oh, I just wrote to you that I didn’t think that you 
really meant it. 
{¶ 48} “[JACKSON]:  What.  My mind is made up.  My mind made – I 
wrote it in my letters, you know what I’m saying, but you know, I don’t like to 
talk too much like that but when I come home, you know what I mean, it’s goin to 
be in full detail.  Okay.  I’m goin to let you know how I’m goin to do it and 
everything.  I’m goin to do it for sure the next day.” 
{¶ 49} In recorded phone conversations between Jackson and Roberts 
during November 2001, they continued to discuss what Jackson planned to do to 
Fingerhut.  In a conversation on November 8, 2001, Jackson told Roberts that he 
wanted Fingerhut to see Roberts performing oral sex on Jackson before Fingerhut 
“goes away.” 
{¶ 50} Two weeks later, Roberts worried about Jackson’s being 
apprehended for the murder of Fingerhut: 
{¶ 51} “[JACKSON]:  You know what I’m saying, the next day after.  
You know what I told you I wanted to do right? 
{¶ 52} “[ROBERTS]:  I’m afraid Nate. 
{¶ 53} “[JACKSON]:  What you, man. 
{¶ 54} “[ROBERTS]:  I can’t afford to lose you.  * * * I can not lose you.  
Like I will kill myself. 
{¶ 55} “* * *  
{¶ 56} “[JACKSON]:  Just forget about it man, * * * when a person, man, 
know what he’s doing, man, * * *  that’s like jinxing, man.  * * *  
{¶ 57} “[ROBERTS]:  But what was the story with the trunk and 
handcuffs, that’s too involved. 
January Term, 2006 
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{¶ 58} “[JACKSON]:  Just, just, just leave it alone, alright. 
{¶ 59} “[ROBERTS]:  It’s too much involved.  Your gonna leave hair, 
your gonna leave prints, your gonna, 
{¶ 60} “[JACKSON]:  Leave it alone, man.  Leave it alone, alright.  * * * 
Come on man.  This ain’t Perry Mason man. 
{¶ 61} “[ROBERTS]:  I don’t want to know anything about it ever.” 
{¶ 62} On November 24, Jackson tried to reassure Roberts about his plan. 
{¶ 63} “[JACKSON]:  Man, we gonna * * * really talk when I come 
home, ok. 
{¶ 64} “[ROBERTS]: OK. 
{¶ 65} “[JACKSON]:  Especially about our, that situation, man.  You 
know. 
{¶ 66} “[ROBERTS]:  Yeah. 
{¶ 67} “[JACKSON]:  I mean, it just, you know, you get too nervous at 
times, that’s all the deal is. 
{¶ 68} “[ROBERTS]:  Yeah I know, it part of my nature. 
{¶ 69} “[JACKSON]:  And then you said DNA, the only way they can do 
a DNA is if they got the other, the person’s, you know what I’m saying.  If they 
got the person and the hair cause they can’t just take no hair and say this is such 
and such hair.  * * * [T]he laws that we got in the State of Ohio and the laws from 
everywhere else, * * * I mean they way different.  * * *  
{¶ 70} “[ROBERTS]:  Really. 
{¶ 71} “[JACKSON]:  Hell yeah.  We’ll, we’ll talk about it when I come 
home Donna.  Ok, I don’t want to talk about it over the phone.” 
{¶ 72} Around Thanksgiving 2001, Roberts and Jackson discussed DNA 
evidence, a “big 38” firearm, their reunification on the night after his release from 
prison and his stay in a hotel the week thereafter, and Roberts’s complete reliance 
on Jackson. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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{¶ 73} On December 8, the day before Jackson was released from prison, 
Jackson and Roberts had one final recorded conversation.  Roberts expressed 
misgivings about what Jackson was planning to do to Fingerhut, but Jackson told 
her, “I got to do this Donna. I got to.”  Roberts told Jackson that she did not want 
to know about it.  The following colloquy then took place: 
{¶ 74} “[JACKSON]:  Just consider it a done deal.  Only thing I’m gonna 
need is one thing. 
{¶ 75} “[ROBERTS]:  What? 
{¶ 76} “* * *  
{¶ 77} “[JACKSON]:  I just need to be in that house when he come home. 
{¶ 78} “[ROBERTS]:  Oh no. 
{¶ 79} “* * *  
{¶ 80} “[JACKSON]:  Baby it ain’t gonna happen in the house.  It ain’t 
gonna happen in the house man, I promise you. 
{¶ 81} “* * *  
{¶ 82} “[JACKSON]:  I just need to be in there man.  It ain’t gonna 
happen in the house man.  I mean I ain’t gonna jeopardize that man. 
{¶ 83} “[ROBERTS]:  Well, let’s not talk about it now. 
{¶ 84} “[JACKSON]:  Ok.  We’ll talk, we’ll, I’ll just wait until 
tomorrow.” 
{¶ 85} In light of the accumulating inculpatory evidence and Roberts’s 
unpersuasive explanations for it, Jackson and Roberts became the prime suspects 
in Fingerhut’s murder.  Detective Monroe then arranged for Roberts to call 
Jackson to ask him some prepared questions and for police to record the 
conversation.  According to Detective Monroe, however, Roberts failed to ask 
Jackson the critical questions that police had instructed her to ask. 
{¶ 86} On December 21, 2001, Roberts was arrested at her home for the 
murder of Robert Fingerhut.  That same day, police raided a home on Wirt Street 
January Term, 2006 
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in Youngstown, and Jackson surrendered.  At that time, Jackson had a bandage 
wrapped around his left index finger.  A search of the Wirt Street home uncovered 
additional evidence.  Included in that evidence was a pair of black leather gloves; 
the index finger of the left glove appeared to have been torn off, and there was a 
red substance on the glove near the tear. 
{¶ 87} On December 28, 2001, a grand jury indicted Roberts on two 
counts of aggravated murder related to Fingerhut’s death. R.C. 2903.01(A) and 
(B).  Both murder counts carried two death-penalty specifications:  murder during 
an aggravated burglary and murder during an aggravated robbery.  R.C. 
2929.04(A)(7).  The grand jury also indicted Roberts on separate counts of 
aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery, each carrying a firearm 
specification. 
{¶ 88} At trial, the state presented numerous witnesses establishing the 
facts previously set forth.  The defense presented no witnesses.  The jury found 
Roberts guilty of aggravated murder and the other offenses as charged. 
{¶ 89} At the mitigation hearing, Roberts waived the presentation of 
evidence except for a lengthy unsworn statement.  The jury recommended – and 
the trial court imposed – the death penalty on Roberts. 
{¶ 90} In this appeal of her conviction and sentence, Roberts now raises 
14 propositions of law.  We have reviewed each and determined that Roberts 
demonstrates no error that would justify reversal of her conviction.  Although 
most of her claims related to sentencing also fail, for the reasons set forth more 
fully below, we hold that the trial court’s sentencing opinion supporting the death 
penalty is so grievously flawed that it cannot properly support the sentence 
imposed.  We therefore affirm Roberts’s convictions and other sentences, but we 
must vacate the death sentence and remand the cause to the trial court to 
reconsider the imposition of the death penalty and to prepare a proper sentencing 
opinion. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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ANALYSIS 
PRETRIAL ISSUES 
The Motion to Suppress 
{¶ 91} In proposition of law two, Roberts argues that police exceeded the 
scope of her consent to search the home during the investigation of Fingerhut’s 
murder and that the trial court erred in failing to suppress her letters to Jackson, 
which the police seized from inside a bag in the trunk of her car in the attached 
garage.  Roberts contends that a reasonable person would have believed that the 
police would be searching her house, but not a vehicle in the garage that was not 
at her home at the time of the offense. 
{¶ 92} During the pretrial hearing on appellant’s motion to suppress, the 
state presented several witnesses who testified that Roberts clearly and directly 
gave police open-ended consent to search the premises.  The testimony received 
at the suppression hearing was consistent:  Roberts told police to do whatever 
they needed to do in their efforts to find out who killed Fingerhut. 
{¶ 93} Howland Township police officer Albert Ray, who investigated the 
murder scene shortly after Roberts called 911, testified that he overheard 
Detective Paul Monroe tell Roberts that the entire residence was a crime scene 
and that police needed to look everywhere for evidence or possible suspects.  
Roberts reportedly responded, “Do whatever you have to do to catch the bastard.”  
Similarly, Detective Sergeant Frank Dillon was at the residence shortly after the 
body was discovered and heard Detective Monroe explain to Roberts that police 
would have to go through the entire house because it was a crime scene.  
According to Detective Sergeant Dillon, Detective Monroe told Roberts that 
police needed to search for evidence to determine who committed the murder, and 
Roberts was adamant in her reply: “I don’t care, you do what you have to do.  I 
want you to get the person who did this to my Robert.” 
January Term, 2006 
15 
{¶ 94} Detective Sergeant Monroe himself testified that after he told 
Roberts that police needed to process the entire house as a crime scene, Roberts 
said: “[D]o whatever you have to do, search the whole place, just find the guy.”  
He further testified that Roberts gave him permission to look anywhere on the 
property to find clues as to who had committed the murder. 
{¶ 95} Roberts’s brother also testified.  He stated that his sister was very 
cooperative with the police and did not rebuff them in any way.  According to 
Roberts’s brother, when police told her they wanted to search through the house 
for clues to the homicide, she told the police, “[D]o what you got to do.” 
{¶ 96} Captain Karl Compton of the Howland police accompanied 
Detective Monroe to the home of Roberts’s brother on the morning after the 
murder, at which time Roberts signed the consent form to search the residence 
and both of the vehicles.  According to Detective Monroe, Roberts was very 
positive about the consent to search and again said, “[D]o whatever you have to 
do.” 
{¶ 97} In light of such testimony, the trial court denied Roberts’s motion 
to suppress.  The court found that Roberts “repeated the request for the police to 
find the killer, and there was every reason for the police to take her actions as a 
request for them to search for evidence.  It was reasonable to imply Ms. Roberts 
[sic] consent to do so.  This is reinforced by Ms. Roberts agreeing in writing later 
on * * * for the police to re-search the house.” 
{¶ 98} The law in this area is settled.  When police conduct a warrantless 
search, the state bears the burden of establishing the validity of the search.  
Searches and seizures without a warrant are “per se unreasonable” except in a few 
well-defined and carefully circumscribed instances.  Coolidge v. New Hampshire 
(1971), 403 U.S. 443, 454-455, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564.  Accord Payton v. 
New York (1980), 445 U.S. 573, 586, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639.  It is 
equally well established, however, that a search of property without a warrant or 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
16 
probable cause but with proper consent having been voluntarily obtained does not 
violate the Fourth Amendment.  Schneckloth v. Bustamonte (1973), 412 U.S. 218, 
249, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854; State v. Posey (1988), 40 Ohio St.3d 420, 
427, 534 N.E.2d 61. 
{¶ 99} The question of whether consent to a search was voluntary or the 
product of duress or coercion, express or implied, is a question of fact to be 
determined from the totality of the circumstances.  Schneckloth, 412 U.S. at 227, 
93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854.  The standard for measuring the scope of consent 
under the Fourth Amendment is objective reasonableness, i.e., what a typical 
reasonable person would have understood by the exchange between the officer 
and the suspect.  Florida v. Jimeno (1991), 500 U.S. 248, 251, 111 S.Ct. 1801, 
114 L.Ed.2d 297. 
{¶ 100} “Appellate review of a motion to suppress presents a mixed 
question of law and fact.  When considering a motion to suppress, the trial court 
assumes the role of trier of fact and is therefore in the best position to resolve 
factual questions and evaluate the credibility of witnesses.  State v. Mills (1992), 
62 Ohio St.3d 357, 366, 582 N.E.2d 972.  Consequently, an appellate court must 
accept the trial court’s findings of fact if they are supported by competent, 
credible evidence.  State v. Fanning (1982), 1 Ohio St.3d 19, [20], 1 OBR 57, 437 
N.E.2d 583.  Accepting these facts as true, the appellate court must then 
independently determine, without deference to the conclusion of the trial court, 
whether the facts satisfy the applicable legal standard.”  State v. Burnside, 100 
Ohio St.3d 152, 2003-Ohio-5372, 797 N.E.2d 71, at ¶ 8. 
{¶ 101} We hold that the evidence here adequately supports the trial 
court’s finding that Roberts gave unlimited consent to search the premises of her 
home.  Roberts told Detective Monroe, “[D]o whatever” must be done and to 
“[D]o what you have to do” in searching the premises.  Although Roberts was 
described as being in a fluctuating emotional state when the consent to search was 
January Term, 2006 
17 
requested initially, nothing suggests that her state of mind precluded her ability 
and desire to confer unconditional permission to search. 
{¶ 102} A reasonable person in Detective Monroe’s position would have 
understood Roberts’s statement, “Do whatever you have to do, search the whole 
place, just find the [killer],” as permitting voluntary consent to an unlimited 
search of the residence, including the attached garage where Roberts’s car was 
parked.  Jimeno, 500 U.S. at 251, 111 S.Ct. 1801, 114 L.Ed.2d 297.  Indeed, when 
police contacted Roberts hours later at her brother’s home, she repeated her 
permission for police to “do whatever [they] have to do” and signed a written 
consent to search the home and both automobiles.  Other courts in similar 
circumstances have held that consent to search a residence and attached garage 
encompasses a search of a car found in the garage.  See United States v. Percival 
(C.A.7, 1985), 756 F.2d 600, 612-613 (a warrant to search a residence and 
attached garage authorizes the search of a car found inside the garage); United 
States v. Quiroz (D.Minn.1999), 57 F.Supp.2d 805, 820-821 (voluntary consent to 
search a residence and attached garage includes the car parked in the garage).  
Accord United States v. Caudill (C.A.6, 2001), 25 Fed.Appx. 349, 353, 2001 WL 
1671075. We find such decisions persuasive here. 
{¶ 103} Based on the totality of the circumstances presented, we 
conclude that Roberts gave clear, open-ended permission to the police to search 
the premises and that her consent extended to the garage and the vehicle therein.  
The trial court properly denied the motion to suppress.  Accordingly, we overrule 
this claim of error. 
Voir Dire Issues 
{¶ 104} In proposition of law three, Roberts contends that in failing to 
excuse two prospective jurors because of their alleged bias and inability to fairly 
consider a life-sentence option, the trial court erred. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
18 
{¶ 105} R.C. 2313.42(J) contemplates that “good cause” exists for the 
removal of a prospective juror when “he discloses by his answers that he cannot 
be a fair and impartial juror or will not follow the law as given to him by the 
court.”  A prospective juror challenged for cause should be excused “if the court 
has any doubt as to the juror’s being entirely unbiased.”  R.C. 2313.43; see State 
v. Cornwell (1999), 86 Ohio St.3d 560, 563, 715 N.E.2d 1144; State v. Allard 
(1996), 75 Ohio St.3d 482, 495, 663 N.E.2d 1277. 
{¶ 106} Trial courts have discretion in determining a juror’s ability to be 
impartial, State v. Williams (1983), 6 Ohio St.3d 281, 288, 6 OBR 345, 452 
N.E.2d 1323, and such a ruling “will not be disturbed on appeal unless it is 
manifestly arbitrary * * * so as to constitute an abuse of discretion.”  State v. 
Tyler (1990), 50 Ohio St.3d 24, 31, 553 N.E.2d 576.  Accord State v. Williams 
(1997), 79 Ohio St.3d 1, 8, 679 N.E.2d 646.  With these standards in mind, we 
turn to the specific claims raised by Roberts. 
{¶ 107} Alleging that one venireman, Andrew Kotwis, was unable to 
fairly consider a life sentence, Roberts asserts that the trial court abused its 
discretion in overruling her challenge to him for cause.  Her claim is predicated 
largely on statements that the prospective juror made indicating that he would 
consider sympathy for the survivors in deciding whether to vote for a life sentence 
or the death penalty.  A review of the transcript of the voir dire examination of 
Kotwis affords perspective and context. 
{¶ 108} Kotwis stated that he would “[a]bsolutely” consider all 
sentencing options.  He admitted that he believed that the death penalty provides 
comfort and solace to the survivors and that sympathy or comfort for the 
survivors would factor into his decision whether to vote for life or death.  But 
after the trial court instructed Kotwis that sympathy could not be a determining 
factor in whether to vote for a death sentence, he agreed to obey the instruction.  
Moreover, Kotwis “[a]bsolutely” agreed with defense counsel that he would 
January Term, 2006 
19 
consider all sentencing options equally and that no option would “start with a leg 
up over the other.” 
{¶ 109} In failing to dismiss Kotwis for cause, the trial court observed 
that Kotwis “rehabilitated himself” in his answers to the follow-up questions 
described.  In these circumstances, we find no abuse of discretion on the part of 
the trial court in denying Roberts’s request to discharge him for cause.  Although 
Kotwis gave some answers that could be construed as ambiguous, he ultimately 
stated that he would consider all sentencing options equally.  His credibility in 
making such statements was a matter for the trial judge.  Wainwright v. Witt 
(1985), 469 U.S. 412, 426, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (“Deference must be 
paid to the trial judge who sees and hears the juror”).  Roberts fails to demonstrate 
that we should disturb that finding. 
{¶ 110} Roberts next asserts that the trial court abused its discretion in 
failing to excuse prospective juror Michael Blake, who expressed what Roberts 
characterizes as a fixed impression of her guilt.  During the voir dire examination, 
Blake initially declared that from what he had read in the news, “they must have 
had a good reason to arrest [Roberts] * * *.  [T]here must be some truth.” 
{¶ 111} Blake’s statements must also be considered in a larger context, 
however.  In other statements, Blake stated that he could set aside anything he had 
read or heard and that he would consider the case solely on the evidence presented 
and the court’s instructions.  Blake conceded that although he believes mass 
murderers such as Ted Bundy should automatically get the death penalty, every 
case is different, and he did not presume anyone guilty.  And at the conclusion of 
questioning, Blake reiterated that he would set aside everything he had read or 
heard about the case and make up his mind solely on the facts presented during 
trial.  The trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to excuse prospective 
juror Blake for cause. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
20 
{¶ 112} Roberts claims that she suffered prejudice because she was 
“forced” to reserve her final peremptory challenge to prevent the impanelment of 
Kotwis and Blake, who were next in the venire to be seated in the jury box.  She 
also asserts that she was prejudiced by using the two peremptory challenges 
allotted for alternate jurors to strike Kotwis and Blake.  Given our conclusion that 
there is no showing that the trial court abused its discretion in rejecting her claims 
to remove Kotwis and Blake for cause, we reject these contentions. 
{¶ 113} Our conclusion is not affected by the fact that an alternate juror 
was seated on the jury during trial when one juror had to be removed because of 
an ailment.  We have held that a defendant may claim prejudice when she 
unsuccessfully challenges a venireman for cause and that venireman would have 
been seated as an alternate juror if the defense had not exercised a peremptory 
challenge.  State v. Group, 98 Ohio St.3d 248, 2002-Ohio-7247, 781 N.E.2d 980, 
¶ 61, fn. 1; see, also, State v. Leonard, 104 Ohio St.3d 54, 2004-Ohio-6235, 818 
N.E.2d 229, ¶ 61; State v. Tyler, 50 Ohio St.3d at 31-32, 553 N.E.2d 576.  But 
implicit in that rule is the requirement of a finding that the trial court should have 
excused the juror for cause.  Group, 98 Ohio St.3d 248, 2002-Ohio-7247, 781 
N.E.2d 980, ¶ 61, quoting State v. Cornwell (1999), 86 Ohio St.3d 560, 564, 715 
N.E.2d 1144 (“Ohio law recognizes that ‘where the defense exhausts its 
peremptory challenges before the full jury is seated, the erroneous denial of a 
challenge for cause in a criminal may be prejudicial’ ”).  (Emphasis added.)  Here, 
we have already concluded that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in 
failing to sustain the challenges for cause raised against the veniremen. 
{¶ 114} Moreover, Roberts fails to show that any of the jurors ultimately 
seated were other than impartial.  Thus, she fails to demonstrate a violation of the 
Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.  See State v. Broom (1988), 
40 Ohio St.3d 277, 288, 533 N.E.2d 682.  Accordingly, we reject Roberts’s 
January Term, 2006 
21 
suggestion that there was error in the trial court’s decisions in empaneling the 
jury. 
Change of Venue 
{¶ 115} In proposition of law seven, Roberts attacks the trial judge’s 
decision to deny her motion for a change of venue.  In support of her contentions, 
Roberts points to pervasive pretrial publicity regarding the murder, Jackson’s trial 
(which occurred only months prior to her own trial), and the state’s theory of her 
complicity in the murder.  Although there may have been a great deal of publicity 
about the murder and Jackson’s trial in Trumbull County, we do not agree that 
Roberts shows that media coverage of the murder so saturated the county and 
influenced the potential venire that she was deprived of a fair trial. 
{¶ 116} A trial court’s ruling on a motion for a change of venue pursuant 
to Crim.R. 18(B) will not be disturbed on appeal unless the court abused its 
discretion.  See, e.g., State v. Lundgren (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 474, 479, 653 
N.E.2d 304; State v. Landrum (1990), 53 Ohio St.3d 107, 116, 559 N.E.2d 710.  
We have long held that a careful and searching voir dire examination provides the 
best test of whether prejudicial pretrial publicity prevents the seating of a fair and 
impartial jury from the community.  See State v. Lynch, 98 Ohio St.3d 514, 2003-
Ohio-2284, 787 N.E.2d 1185, at ¶ 35; Landrum, 53 Ohio St.3d at 117, 559 N.E.2d 
710; State v. Swiger (1966), 5 Ohio St.2d 151, 34 O.O.2d 270, 214 N.E.2d 417, 
paragraph one of the syllabus. 
{¶ 117} A defendant claiming that pretrial publicity denied her a fair trial 
must show that one or more jurors were actually biased.  State v. Treesh (2001), 
90 Ohio St.3d 460, 464, 739 N.E.2d 749; Mayola v. Alabama (C.A.5, 1980), 623 
F.2d 992, 996.  Pretrial publicity – even pervasive, adverse publicity – does not 
inevitably lead to an unfair trial.  Nebraska Press Assn. v. Stuart (1976), 427 U.S. 
539, 554, 96 S.Ct. 2791, 49 L.Ed.2d 683.  Only in rare cases may prejudice be 
presumed.  Treesh, 90 Ohio St.3d at 464, 739 N.E.2d 749. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
22 
{¶ 118} We have held that extensive voir dire helps to eliminate any 
negative effect arising from the pretrial publicity, Lundgren, 73 Ohio St.3d at 
479-480, 653 N.E.2d 304, and the trial court here engaged in such an effort.  The 
trial court held Roberts’s motion to change venue in abeyance in order to 
determine whether pretrial publicity tainted the jury pool.  It then conducted a 
thorough voir dire, as evidenced by the facts that voir dire took a month to 
complete and encompasses more than 20 volumes and approximately 4,700 pages 
of transcript.  Near the conclusion of voir dire, the trial court overruled the motion 
to change venue, stating: “[T]he Court feels very comfortable that this case can be 
fairly tried in this county  * * *.” 
{¶ 119} To support her claim that fairness was lacking and that pretrial 
publicity impaired the trial court’s ability to seat an impartial jury, Roberts cites 
the voir dire of seven prospective jurors.  However, four of these prospective 
jurors never sat on the final panel, so prejudice to Roberts is not shown.  Treesh, 
90 Ohio St.3d at 464, 739 N.E.2d 749. 
{¶ 120} Nor does the fact that three jurors had heard about some aspects 
of the case prior to trial necessarily reflect bias or lack of impartiality.  See State 
v. Ahmed, 103 Ohio St.3d 27, 2004-Ohio-4190, 813 N.E.2d 637, at ¶ 37-41; State 
v. Bies (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 320, 324, 658 N.E.2d 754.  Moreover, defense 
counsel passed for cause on those three jurors and did not exercise a peremptory 
challenge on any of them, even though Roberts had remaining peremptory 
challenges at the time those jurors were seated.  As we observed in a similar 
situation: “The absence of defense challenges for pretrial publicity and the failure 
to exhaust defense peremptory challenges indicate that the defense was not 
particularly troubled by the jury’s exposure to pretrial publicity once voir dire was 
completed.”  State v. Lynch, 98 Ohio St.3d 514, 2003-Ohio-2284, 787 N.E.2d 
1185, at ¶ 37.  So, too, here. 
January Term, 2006 
23 
{¶ 121} Accordingly, we hold that there is not a sufficient showing that 
the trial court abused its discretion in denying Roberts’s motion for change of 
venue.  See State v. Gross, 97 Ohio St.3d 121, 2002-Ohio-5524, 776 N.E.2d 1061, 
¶ 30.  We reject Roberts’s claim to the contrary. 
TRIAL ISSUES 
Sufficiency of Evidence 
{¶ 122} Roberts argues in proposition of law four that the evidence at 
trial did not sufficiently establish the theft element of aggravated robbery and the 
corresponding capital specification. 
{¶ 123} When we review a record for sufficiency, “[t]he relevant inquiry 
is whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, 
any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime 
proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”  State v. Jenks (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 
574 N.E.2d 492, paragraph two of the syllabus, following Jackson v. Virginia 
(1979), 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560.  “[T]he weight to be given 
the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses are primarily for the trier of the 
facts.”  State v. DeHass (1967), 10 Ohio St.2d 230, 39 O.O.2d 366, 227 N.E.2d 
212, paragraph one of the syllabus.  A verdict will not be disturbed on appeal on 
sufficiency grounds unless “reasonable minds could not reach the conclusion 
reached by the trier-of-fact.”  State v. Dennis (1997), 79 Ohio St.3d 421, 430, 683 
N.E.2d 1096. 
{¶ 124} In her effort to show that the evidence was insufficient to 
demonstrate theft, Roberts points out that Fingerhut’s wallets, one of which 
contained large amounts of money, were found with his body after the murder.  
She then challenges the state’s theory that the theft element was established by 
Jackson’s use of Fingerhut’s car to escape. 
{¶ 125} In her latter analysis, Roberts does not deny that Jackson drove 
away from the crime scene in Fingerhut’s car.  Indeed, the evidence shows that 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
24 
Jackson shot Fingerhut and drove from the scene in Fingerhut’s automobile.  
Rather than attacking the facts, Roberts argues the law. 
{¶ 126} Roberts claims that the taking of the car does not constitute a 
theft offense because Jackson did not keep the car or try to sell it, but rather, 
merely drove it to Youngstown and abandoned it with the keys inside.  In other 
words, she claims that because Jackson merely used the vehicle as a means of 
escape, taking it cannot constitute a theft offense.  We reject that assertion. 
{¶ 127} The evidence established that Jackson asserted control over the 
keys to Fingerhut’s car and the car itself.  He therefore deprived Fingerhut of that 
property.  See State v. Biros (1997), 78 Ohio St.3d 426, 450, 678 N.E.2d 891.  
The fact that Jackson did not keep or sell the car for financial gain does not 
matter; the only purpose required for theft is “purpose to deprive the owner of 
[the] property” in question.  R.C. 2913.02(A). 
{¶ 128} Roberts next challenges the conviction with a contention that 
there is no evidence that Jackson formed the intent to take Fingerhut’s automobile 
until after he murdered Fingerhut.  Assuming purely arguendo that the evidence 
supports such a conclusion (and we think it does not), the claim fails. 
{¶ 129} We repeatedly have rejected the argument that there is no 
aggravated robbery when the victim’s property is taken after he is murdered.  
“[T]he victim of a robbery, killed just prior to the robber’s carrying off [his] 
property, is nonetheless the victim of an aggravated robbery.  The victim need not 
be alive at the time of asportation.  A robber cannot avoid the effect of the felony-
murder rule by first killing a victim, watching [him] die, and then stealing [his] 
property after the death.”  State v. Smith (1991), 61 Ohio St.3d 284, 290, 574 
N.E.2d 510.  Accord State v. Rojas (1992), 64 Ohio St.3d 131, 139, 592 N.E.2d 
1376. 
{¶ 130} The evidence was sufficient to support a finding that the killing 
was associated with the aggravated robbery of Fingerhut’s keys and car as part of 
January Term, 2006 
25 
one continuous occurrence, see State v. Williams (1996), 74 Ohio St.3d 569, 577, 
660 N.E.2d 724, and we hold the evidence sufficient to support the jury’s verdict 
beyond a reasonable doubt on the essential elements of aggravated robbery, R.C. 
2911.01, and on the R.C. 2929.04(A)(7) capital specification, aggravated robbery 
in connection with aggravated murder. 
Jury Instructions 
{¶ 131} In proposition of law 11, Roberts contends that the trial court 
erred in instructing the jury on reasonable doubt based on the statutory definition 
of R.C. 2901.05.  During trial, however, she failed to object to the instruction on 
the basis asserted here.  She thus waives all but plain error, State v. Underwood 
(1983), 3 Ohio St.3d 12, 3 OBR 360, 444 N.E.2d 1332, syllabus, and we find no 
such error.  See State v. Jones (2000), 90 Ohio St.3d 403, 417, 739 N.E.2d 300; 
State v. Jenkins (1984), 15 Ohio St.3d 164, 15 OBR 311, 473 N.E.2d 264, 
paragraph eight of the syllabus. 
SENTENCING ISSUES 
Waiver of Mitigation 
{¶ 132} In proposition of law one, Roberts contends that a waiver of 
mitigation evidence is not valid unless the defendant is informed that the waiver 
will result in the death penalty.  In addition, Roberts submits that such a waiver is 
invalid if the defendant intends to present any mitigation evidence in any form. 
{¶ 133} At the outset of the mitigation phase, Roberts informed her 
counsel that she did not wish to present any mitigating evidence to the jury except 
an unsworn statement.  During the ensuing in camera hearing on this issue, the 
court explained to Roberts the purpose of the mitigation phase and her right to 
present mitigation evidence.  The judge then inquired as to whether Roberts had 
instructed her attorneys not to present such evidence; she confirmed that the 
court’s understanding was correct.  Roberts explained to the trial judge that she 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
26 
had talked with her attorneys, family, and friends before declaring, “I know what I 
am doing.  I explained to everyone that cares why I am doing it.” 
{¶ 134} Trial counsel described for the judge the evidence that could be 
presented in mitigation.  Counsel noted that professionally and personally, he 
disagreed with Roberts’s decision not to present such evidence but that he 
believed her competent and that the decision was the product of rational thought. 
{¶ 135} The court then heard from Dr. Thomas Eberle, a psychologist 
who had evaluated Roberts earlier during the prosecution and who did so again 
just prior to the hearing.  Dr. Eberle testified that Roberts’s decision to forgo 
presentation of mitigating evidence was rational.  He further found that she 
suffered no psychiatric or psychological abnormality that would prohibit a 
rational decision regarding presentation of mitigating evidence. 
{¶ 136} Having heard the foregoing testimony, the trial court specifically 
inquired of Roberts whether she understood that “by waiving the presentation of 
mitigating evidence, this Jury has little to go upon in coming up with something 
other than the death penalty.”  Roberts replied: “That is what I hope for.  * * * I 
know what I am doing and I know why.  Thank you for asking.”  The court then 
found that the decision to forgo mitigation evidence was a voluntary one made 
without any reluctance, that Roberts had reiterated that decision repeatedly, and 
that she appeared relieved to have made it.  The court found that Roberts 
understood that her decision was irrevocable, and it accepted her decision to forgo 
the presentation of mitigation evidence. 
{¶ 137} Roberts later presented an unsworn statement to the jury.  In that 
statement, she told the jury that she would not provide any mitigating evidence.  
She then said, “You are bound by law to give me one sentence, the death penalty.  
You have no other choice.  That is what I’m asking you to do, because that is the 
right thing to do.”  She reiterated that objective after the trial court sentenced her 
to death. 
January Term, 2006 
27 
{¶ 138} With this factual background in mind, we turn to the law. 
{¶ 139} The United States Supreme Court has never suggested that the 
Eighth Amendment requires forcing an unwilling defendant to present mitigating 
evidence in a capital case.  State v. Ashworth (1999), 85 Ohio St.3d 56, 63, 706 
N.E.2d 1231.  No societal interest counterbalances the defendant’s right to control 
his or her own defense.  Tyler, 50 Ohio St.3d at 28, 553 N.E.2d 576. 
{¶ 140} We have held that a defendant is entitled to decide what she 
wants to argue and present as mitigation in the penalty phase, see, e.g., Jenkins, 
15 Ohio St.3d at 189, 15 OBR 311, 473 N.E.2d 264, citing Lockett v. Ohio 
(1978), 438 U.S. 586, 604, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973, including the decision 
to present no evidence.  Ohio’s death-penalty statute itself confers “great latitude” 
on a defendant in such decisions.  R.C. 2929.04(C).  See, also, State v. Barton, 
108 Ohio St.3d 402, 2006-Ohio-1324, 844 N.E.2d 307, ¶ 47. Roberts was entitled 
to present no mitigation evidence. 
{¶ 141} Her contention that she did not fully understand the ramifications 
of her decision and that the trial judge did not sufficiently inquire of her in that 
regard is belied by the record.  As set forth above, the record clearly establishes 
that the trial judge specifically addressed the likelihood of the jury’s imposing a 
death sentence if Roberts failed to present mitigating evidence and that she 
understood that a death sentence was the probable outcome.  In fact, Roberts 
asked the jury to impose that sentence.  We reject her claim that she did not 
understand that the waiver would yield such a result. 
{¶ 142} We now turn to Roberts’s suggestion that her waiver of the right 
to present mitigation evidence was not a complete waiver. 
{¶ 143} Roberts contends that she entered only a “partial waiver” because 
she gave an unsworn statement and that a partial waiver does not constitute a 
valid waiver.  Roberts cites no decision to support her assertion, nor are we aware 
of any such authority.  We do recognize, however, our prior holding in State v. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
28 
Monroe, 105 Ohio St.3d 384, 2005-Ohio-2282, 827 N.E.2d 285, ¶ 72-76, in 
which we concluded that the requirements of Ashworth, 85 Ohio St.3d 56, 706 
N.E.2d 1231, paragraph one of the syllabus, do not apply when a defendant makes 
an unsworn statement and presents minimal evidence in mitigation.  Our emphasis 
in Ashworth was to require an inquiry of “a defendant only in those situations 
where the defendant chooses to present no mitigating evidence whatsoever.”  
(Emphasis added.)  Monroe, 105 Ohio St.3d 384, 2005-Ohio-2282, 827 N.E.2d 
285, ¶ 74.  Here, Roberts presented an unsworn statement.  An unsworn statement 
can constitute critical mitigating evidence.  See State v. Scott, 101 Ohio St.3d 31, 
2004-Ohio-10, 800 N.E.2d 1133, at ¶ 64; State v. Lynch, 98 Ohio St.3d 514, 
2003-Ohio-2284, 787 N.E.2d 1185, at ¶ 110.  Barton, 108 Ohio St.3d 402, 2006-
Ohio-1324, 844 N.E.2d 307, ¶ 50.  We decline to extend Ashworth to the context 
Roberts presents. 
{¶ 144} Moreover, we have never held that a partial waiver of the right to 
present mitigating evidence is an invalid exercise of that right.  To the contrary, 
we have upheld the death sentences in several cases in which the defendant chose 
to present only an unsworn statement to the jury in mitigation.  See State v. Mink, 
101 Ohio St.3d 350, 2004-Ohio-1580, 805 N.E.2d 1064, ¶ 113-114; State v. 
Vrabel, 99 Ohio St.3d 184, 2003-Ohio-3193, 790 N.E.2d 303, ¶ 22; Tyler, 50 
Ohio St.3d at 28, 553 N.E.2d 576; Barton, 108 Ohio St.3d 402, 2006-Ohio-1324, 
844 N.E.2d 307, ¶ 47. 
{¶ 145} In any event, the record reflects that the trial judge complied with 
the Ashworth requirements.  We reject Roberts’s claims of error in the trial court’s 
decisions with respect to her decision to waive mitigating evidence. 
Effective Assistance 
{¶ 146} Similarly, in proposition of law eight, to the extent that Roberts 
argues that trial counsel were ineffective for failing to properly advise her and 
January Term, 2006 
29 
ensure that she understood the ramifications of her waiver of her right to present 
mitigating evidence, her claim fails. 
{¶ 147} Reversal of a conviction for ineffective assistance “requires 
showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as 
the ‘counsel’ guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment.  Second, the 
defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced the defendant.”  
Strickland v. Washington (1984), 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 
674.  Accord State v. Bradley (1989), 42 Ohio St.3d 136, 538 N.E.2d 373, 
paragraph two of the syllabus. 
{¶ 148} We again reject Roberts’s contentions that she did not understand 
the full ramifications of waiving her right to present and argue mitigation 
evidence.  The record shows that Roberts understood what she was doing when 
she decided to present only her unsworn statement during the mitigation hearing.  
The record also establishes that the trial court explained sufficiently the 
ramifications of that decision, that Roberts essentially told the trial court that she 
was not presenting additional mitigating evidence because she wanted to be given 
a death sentence, and that she disregarded her attorneys’ advice and instead 
directed them not to present any mitigating evidence beyond her unsworn 
statement.  An attorney does not render ineffective assistance by declining, in 
deference to a client’s desires, to present evidence in mitigation.  See, e.g., State 
v. Monroe, 105 Ohio St.3d 384, 2005-Ohio-2282, 827 N.E.2d 285, ¶ 100; State v. 
Cowans (1999), 87 Ohio St.3d 68, 81, 717 N.E.2d 298; State v. Keith (1997), 79 
Ohio St.3d 514, 536, 684 N.E.2d 47.  Her claims that counsel was constitutionally 
ineffective fail. 
Cumulative Error 
{¶ 149} Although Roberts claims in proposition of law 12 that a 
combination of errors by the trial court and prosecution and ineffectiveness of 
counsel deprived her of a fair trial, she offers no analysis of substance to support 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
30 
those claims.  She thus fails to demonstrate that she was denied a fair trial.  State 
v. Sapp, 105 Ohio St.3d 104, 2004-Ohio-7008, 822 N.E.2d 1239, ¶ 103. 
Jury Instructions 
{¶ 150} Roberts asserts in proposition of law ten that it was error for the 
trial court to use the term “recommendation” in its sentencing instructions to the 
jury.  The term “recommendation” in a jury instruction, however, accurately 
reflects Ohio law and does not constitute prejudicial error.  State v. Clemons 
(1998), 82 Ohio St.3d 438, 444, 696 N.E.2d 1009; State v. Carter (1995), 72 Ohio 
St.3d 545, 559, 651 N.E.2d 965. 
Proportionality Review 
{¶ 151} We summarily reject Roberts’s challenges in proposition of law 
13 to Ohio’s system of proportionality review in light of our precedent.  See State 
v. Jordan, 101 Ohio St.3d 216, 2004-Ohio-783, 804 N.E.2d 1, ¶ 86; State v. 
Steffen (1987), 31 Ohio St.3d 111, 31 OBR 273, 509 N.E.2d 383. 
Constitutionality 
{¶ 152} We summarily reject Roberts’s various constitutional claims in 
proposition of law 14.  See, e.g., State v. Issa (2001), 93 Ohio St.3d 49, 69, 752 
N.E.2d 904; State v. Carter (2000), 89 Ohio St.3d 593, 608, 734 N.E.2d 345; 
State v. Gumm (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 413, 417-418, 653 N.E.2d 253; State v. 
Henderson (1988), 39 Ohio St.3d 24, 29, 528 N.E.2d 1237; State v. Poindexter 
(1988), 36 Ohio St.3d 1, 520 N.E.2d 568, syllabus; State v. Stumpf (1987), 32 
Ohio St.3d 95, 104, 512 N.E.2d 598; State v. Buell (1986), 22 Ohio St.3d 124, 
135-142, 22 OBR 203, 489 N.E.2d 795; and State v. Jenkins, 15 Ohio St.3d at 
167-178, 15 OBR 311, 473 N.E.2d 264. 
Sentencing Opinion 
{¶ 153} Having disposed of the substantial majority of Roberts’s claims, 
we now turn to a critical one.  In proposition of law six, Roberts asserts that the 
January Term, 2006 
31 
trial court erred in allowing the prosecutor to assist in drafting the court’s 
sentencing opinion.  The claim arises from the facts that follow. 
{¶ 154} At the sentencing hearing, the court read aloud its sentencing 
opinion and imposed the death penalty on Roberts.  As the court was doing so, 
defense counsel noticed that the prosecutor was looking at a document and 
appeared to be reading along with the trial judge.  At the end of the court’s 
reading, defense counsel raised a “vehement” objection to the prosecution’s 
apparent ex parte involvement with the sentencing opinion. 
{¶ 155} The trial judge conceded that the prosecution had participated in 
the drafting of the opinion without the knowledge of defense counsel.  The trial 
judge stated that he had given notes to the prosecutor and had instructed the 
prosecutor, “[T]his is what I want.”  The court added that the opinion had to be 
corrected six or seven times.  The trial judge apologized to defense counsel for 
not providing them with a copy of the opinion before the sentencing hearing. 
{¶ 156} R.C. 2929.03 governs the imposition of sentences for aggravated 
murder.  R.C. 2929.03(F) clearly contemplates that the trial court itself will draft 
the death-sentence opinion:  “The court * * * when it imposes sentence of death, 
shall state in a separate opinion its specific findings as to the existence of any of 
the mitigating factors * * *, the aggravating circumstances the offender was found 
guilty of committing, and the reasons why the aggravating circumstances the 
offender was found guilty of committing were sufficient to outweigh the 
mitigating factors * * *.”  (Emphasis added.) 
{¶ 157} Our prior decisions have stressed the crucial role of the trial 
court’s sentencing opinion in evaluating all of the evidence, including mitigation 
evidence, and in carefully weighing the specified aggravating circumstances 
against the mitigating evidence in determining the appropriateness of the death 
penalty.  For example, in State v. Green (2000), 90 Ohio St.3d 352, 360, 738 
N.E.2d 1208, we vacated the death penalty because the trial court’s sentencing 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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opinion “was constitutionally deficient.”  There, the trial court’s sentencing 
opinion “improperly considered nonstatutory aggravating circumstances, and 
failed to consider relevant mitigating evidence.”  Id.  We concluded that “the 
collective deficiencies in the trial court’s decision to impose the death penalty, as 
reflected in the sentencing opinion, undermine our confidence in that decision. * * 
*  These cumulative errors reflect grievous violations of the statutory deliberative 
process.”  Id. at 363-364, 738 N.E.2d 1208. 
{¶ 158} Similarly, in State v. Davis (1988), 38 Ohio St.3d 361, 528 
N.E.2d 925, we vacated the death sentence because of grievous errors in the trial 
court’s sentencing opinion.  In Davis, we noted, “[T]he General Assembly has set 
specific standards in the statutory framework it created to guide a sentencing 
court’s discretion ‘by requiring examination of specific factors that argue in favor 
of or against imposition of the death penalty, thus eliminating total arbitrariness 
and capriciousness in its imposition.’ ”  (Emphasis sic.)  Id. at 372-373, 528 
N.E.2d 925, quoting Proffitt v. Florida (1976), 428 U.S. 242, 258, 96 S.Ct. 2960, 
49 L.Ed.2d 913. 
{¶ 159} In this case, our confidence in the trial court’s sentencing opinion 
is undermined by the fact that the trial judge directly involved the prosecutor in 
preparing the sentencing opinion and did so on an ex parte basis.  The trial judge 
is charged by statute with the sole responsibility of personally preparing the 
opinion setting forth the assessment and weight of the evidence, the aggravating 
circumstances of the murder, and any relevant mitigating factors prior to 
determining what penalty should be imposed.  The fact that the trial judge 
provided his notes to the prosecutor to guide the prosecutor in drafting the 
sentencing opinion does not change the result.  The various drafts of the opinion 
that ultimately imposed death on Roberts involved the assistance of the 
prosecutor. 
January Term, 2006 
33 
{¶ 160} The trial court’s delegation of any degree of responsibility in this 
sentencing opinion does not comply with R.C. 2929.03(F).  Nor does it comport 
with our firm belief that the consideration and imposition of death are the most 
solemn of all the duties that are imposed on a judge, as Ohio courts have also 
recognized.  See State v. Vrabel (Mar. 2, 2000), Mahoning App. No. 95 CA 221, 
2000 WL 246482, *15 (“The role of this Court in reviewing a death penalty case 
is codified by statute and defined by the Ohio Supreme Court. It is a duty of 
immense proportions which we undertake with great solemnity”). The judge alone 
serves as the final arbiter of justice in his courtroom, and he must discharge that 
austere duty in isolation.  The scales of justice may not be weighted even slightly 
by one with an interest in the ultimate outcome.  Given the prosecutor’s direct 
role in the preparation of the sentencing opinion, we cannot conclude that the 
proper process was followed here. 
{¶ 161} That conclusion is compelled particularly in light of the trial 
court’s ex parte communications about sentencing with the prosecutor in 
preparing the sentencing opinion.  The Code of Judicial Conduct, Canon 3(B)(7) 
specifies, “A judge shall not initiate, receive, permit, or consider communications 
made to the judge outside the presence of the parties or their representatives 
concerning a pending or impending proceeding * * *”  Both the trial judge and 
the prosecutor should have known that any ex parte assistance in the preparation 
of the court’s sentencing opinion was wholly inconsistent with these vital ethical 
constraints.  See Disciplinary Rule 7-110(B)(2) and (3). 
{¶ 162} The trial court’s consultation with the prosecutor, particularly 
when undertaken without the knowledge or participation of defense counsel, can 
neither be ignored nor found to be harmless error.  Cf. Gardner v. Florida (1977), 
430 U.S. 349, 362, 97 S.Ct. 1197, 51 L.Ed.2d 393 (defendant “was denied due 
process of law when the death sentence was imposed, at least in part, on the basis 
of information [from a presentence report] which he had no opportunity to deny 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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or explain”).  We cannot cure the deficiencies in the preparation of the sentencing 
opinion by our own independent assessment. 
{¶ 163} The trial court’s decision to use the prosecutor in preparing the 
sentencing opinion constitutes a grievous violation of the statutory deliberative 
process.  It is so severe a violation that independent reweighing cannot serve as an 
adequate remedy.  See State v. Green, 90 Ohio St.3d at 363-364, 738 N.E.2d 
1208.  We find that we must vacate the sentence because of the critical 
constitutional interests and notions of justice that are implicated by the 
prosecutor’s participation in drafting the sentencing opinion. 
{¶ 164} We accordingly sustain Roberts’s claim of error in the trial 
judge’s use of the prosecutor to assist directly in the preparation of the sentencing 
opinion.  Accordingly, we vacate the sentence and remand to the trial court for 
resentencing as set forth expressly below. 
Allocution Rights 
{¶ 165} Finally, we turn to Roberts’s claim in proposition of law five that 
the trial court committed reversible error by not affording Roberts the right of 
allocution before announcing the sentence. 
{¶ 166} Crim.R. 32(A)(1) provides that before imposing sentence in a 
criminal trial, the trial court shall “address the defendant personally” and ask 
whether he or she wishes to make a statement on her own behalf or present any 
information in mitigation of punishment.  Because we have vacated the death 
sentence and remanded the case, this issue is now moot.  The trial court shall 
provide Roberts with her right of allocution before imposing any new sentence. 
CONCLUSION 
{¶ 167} Having found no prejudicial error in regard to Roberts’s 
conviction, we affirm the conviction and the judgment of the trial court pertaining 
to them.  Because of the prejudicial error in sentencing Roberts to death, the 
sentence of death is vacated, and the cause is hereby remanded to the trial court.  
January Term, 2006 
35 
On remand, the trial judge will afford Roberts her right to allocute, and the trial 
court shall personally review and evaluate the evidence, weigh the aggravating 
circumstances against any relevant mitigating evidence, and determine anew the 
appropriateness of the death penalty as required by R.C. 2929.03.  The trial court 
will then personally prepare an entirely new penalty opinion as required by R.C. 
2929.03(F) and conduct whatever other proceedings are required by law and 
consistent with this opinion. 
Judgment accordingly. 
 
MOYER, C.J., RESNICK, PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’DONNELL and 
LANZINGER, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Dennis Watkins, Trumbull County Prosecuting Attorney, and LuWayne 
Annos, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee. 
 
David L. Doughten and Patricia J. Smith, for appellant. 
______________________