Opinion ID: 2689828
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Firearm Specification

Text: In his twenty-third proposition, Campbell contends that the state failed to prove his guilt of the firearm specification to Count Seven (aggravated robbery of Deputy Harrison). R.C. 2941.145 provides that “[i]mposition of a three-year mandatory prison term upon an offender under division (D)(1)(a) of section 2929.14 of the Revised 22 Code is precluded unless the indictment, count in the indictment, or information charging the offense specifies that the offender had a firearm on or about the offender’s person or under the offender’s control while committing the offense and displayed the firearm, brandished the firearm, indicated that the offender possessed the firearm, or used it to facilitate the offense.” Campbell raises an issue of statutory construction. The theft offense that is the basis of the Count Seven aggravated robbery charge was the theft of Harrison’s service pistol. But Harrison’s pistol is also the firearm whose possession by Campbell supports his conviction of the R.C. 2941.145 specification. Campbell argues that the firearm specification “never applies when the firearm used for the specification is the object of the theft itself, and when the stolen firearm is the only firearm involved.” Campbell contends that when he stole Harrison’s gun, he did not have a firearm on his person or under his control. That is clearly wrong. At the time he took the gun, he was committing a theft, and he obviously had the gun “on or about [his] person or under [his] control.” However, the R.C. 2941.145 specification also requires that the offender must have “displayed” the firearm, “brandished” it, “indicated that [he] possessed” it, “or used it to facilitate the offense.” Campbell did not use the gun “to facilitate” the theft. 23 However, “the offense”—i.e., the aggravated robbery—includes the flight immediately after the theft. Aggravated robbery does not consist solely of committing or attempting a theft offense while doing one of the acts listed in R.C. 2911.01(A)(1) through (3); it includes “fleeing immediately after the attempt or offense” while committing one of those acts. R.C. 2911.01(A). Thus, if Campbell did “display,” “brandish,” “use,” or “indicate that [he] possesse[d]” a “deadly weapon” while fleeing immediately after he stole it from Harrison, he was engaged in aggravated robbery during his flight. R.C. 2911.01(A)(1). And if that deadly weapon was also a firearm for purposes of R.C. 2941.145, and Campbell used it “to facilitate the offense”—which includes his flight—then it follows that he was guilty of the firearm specification. The jury could infer that Campbell used the gun to commit the carjacking. That means he used it to facilitate his flight immediately after the theft, which in turn means he used it to facilitate the aggravated robbery. Therefore, he was properly convicted of the firearm specification set forth in R.C. 2941.145. His twenty-third proposition is overruled.