Opinion ID: 2746353
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Improper Questions

Text: {¶ 164} Thompson next claims misconduct occurred when the prosecutor asked witnesses leading and improper questions and elicited speculative testimony and hearsay.
{¶ 165} Thompson says the prosecutor asked leading questions during the testimony of John Jira, Christine Franco, and eight other witnesses. Thompson did not object to most of these questions at trial. Accordingly, we review these claims for plain error, unless otherwise noted. {¶ 166} “A leading question is ‘one that suggests to the witness the answer desired by the examiner.’ ” State v. Drummond, 111 Ohio St.3d 14, 2006-Ohio5084, 854 N.E.2d 1038, ¶ 138, quoting 1 McCormick, Evidence, Section 6, at 19 (5th Ed.1999). Generally, this type of question “should not be used on the direct examination of a witness except as may be necessary to develop the witness 44 January Term, 2014 testimony.” Evid.R. 611(C). Still, the trial court has discretion to allow leading questions on direct examination. D’Ambrosio, 67 Ohio St.3d at 190, 616 N.E.2d 909; see Staff Note to Evid.R. 611(C). {¶ 167} First, Thompson claims that the prosecutor improperly led bartender John Jira while questioning him about Thompson’s behavior on July 13. During his testimony, Jira confirmed that he was aware that a witness (Bartz) had overheard Thompson making statements in the bar that night. The prosecutor then asked, “You didn’t hear him make those statements, did you?” Jira responded, “Not at all.” {¶ 168} Although the prosecutor’s question was leading, the trial court had discretion to permit it. And even if the question had been improper, it was to Thompson’s benefit. This question and answer showed that Jira was unable to corroborate Bartz’s testimony about Thompson’s behavior that night. Accordingly, we find no misconduct or plain error with regard to Jira’s testimony. {¶ 169} Second, Thompson objects to the prosecutor’s redirect examination of police dispatcher Christine Franco. On cross-examination, Franco had testified that she did not receive a “distress code” from Miktarian on the night of his murder. She explained, “We don’t usually use codes,” and she agreed with defense counsel that an officer in trouble would normally say something like “I’m in trouble, or, I need help.” {¶ 170} On redirect, the prosecution asked leading questions in an attempt to establish that Miktarian may have been communicating distress when he requested another unit. After a sidebar, the trial court sustained an objection to the questioning, reasoning that the prosecutor was making “an argument” about Miktarian’s meaning. The prosecutor attempted to rephrase the question, but the court sustained a second objection. At this point, the prosecutor inartfully asked Franco whether she had known Miktarian’s reasons for requesting backup when she testified on cross-examination that Miktarian had not called in distress: “So 45 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO when you answered [defense counsel’s] question, you didn’t know that either?” Franco agreed that she had not known Miktarian’s reasons. {¶ 171} The trial court sustained objections to the first two questions cited by Thompson, so they cannot be the basis for a misconduct claim. See Hale, 119 Ohio St.3d 118, 2008-Ohio-3426, 892 N.E.2d 864, at ¶ 162. And Thompson did not object at trial to the state’s final question and cannot establish plain error. Indeed, he does not even attempt to show that the outcome of his trial would have differed if Franco had definitively testified that Miktarian was not in distress when he called for backup. See Crim.R. 52(B). {¶ 172} Finally, Thompson generally claims that the prosecutor committed misconduct by “us[ing] leading questions with many witnesses.” He cites eight witnesses and corresponding transcript pages but offers no further argument in support of this claim. Many of Thompson’s citations refer to instances in which the trial court sustained objections to a question, which cannot be the basis for a misconduct claim. In addition, some of the cited questions merely restated a witness’s prior testimony, so they cannot be deemed prejudicial. {¶ 173} What remains of Thompson’s broad claim are leading questions about whether certain behavior is unusual in a bar, whether Miktarian’s dashboard camera was recording, whether a Taser is deadly force, whether Thompson resisted arrest at his sister’s home, the significance (or lack thereof) of finding no forensic evidence in a case, and a BCI analyst’s past experiences swabbing guns for blood. Only one of these matters is potentially prejudicial—whether a Taser is deadly force. But Thompson did not argue self-defense, and he cannot rely on fear to prove manslaughter. Accordingly, even that testimony was not prejudicial, let alone outcome-determinative. We therefore reject all of Thompson’s claims related to the use of leading questions. 46 January Term, 2014
{¶ 174} Next, Thompson argues that the prosecution committed misconduct by eliciting hearsay testimony from Steven Bartz, thereby violating Thompson’s confrontation rights. Because Thompson did not object to this evidence at trial, he has waived all but plain error. See Jones, 91 Ohio St.3d at 343, 744 N.E.2d 1163. {¶ 175} Bartz relied on his written police statement when testifying, both on direct and on cross-examination. The record indicates that Bartz did read some portions of his statement aloud to the jury. But this admission of hearsay did not violate Thompson’s confrontation rights, because the declarant (Bartz) testified at trial. See Powell, 132 Ohio St.3d 233, 2012-Ohio-2577, 971 N.E.2d 865, at ¶ 64; Leonard, 104 Ohio St.3d 54, 2004-Ohio-6235, 818 N.E.2d 229, at ¶ 110. Moreover, this evidentiary mistake did not rise to the level of plain error.
{¶ 176} Thompson also says that the prosecutor committed misconduct by posing inflammatory questions to Sergeant Sandoval and Danielle Roberson. On redirect, the prosecutor asked Sandoval, “Sir, how many seconds does it take to reach for a gun and shoot and kill a police officer?” And on cross-examination of Roberson, the prosecutor asked, “That officer had every reason in the world to be nervous, didn’t he?” In both instances, the trial court sustained defense objections and instructed the jury to “[d]isregard the question.” {¶ 177} Thompson “cannot predicate error on objections the trial court sustained.” Hale, 119 Ohio St.3d 118, 2008-Ohio-3426, 892 N.E.2d 864, at ¶ 162. Accordingly, we reject these claims.