Opinion ID: 2738168
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Charlene Dawkins’ Testimony

Text: Dawkins also testified at Defendant’s trial, stating that Defendant offered to go into business with her in 2000. Dawkins explained that Defendant previously had a clothing store named Devotice and that when they began their partnership together in 2005, they renamed the 3 Defendant married Donald Miller in 2003. (Id. at PageID# 2071.) 7 No. 13-3315 store “Devotice & La’Char” to reflect both of their names. Dawkins testified that she and her daughter went to the store together on a few occasions to purchase some African clothes for her daughter’s wedding. She stated that Defendant sold her a number of articles for her daughter’s wedding, including the wedding crown used during the wedding ceremony. Although Dawkins could not recall when her daughter got married and when they visited the store, she remembered that this had occurred sometime before 2004. When asked who was working in the store on those particular occasions when she visited the store, Dawkins replied that Defendant had been working there. She stated specifically that “Bernice had to open it and let us in. It wasn’t open for business. Wasn’t nobody there working, but we went -- we met her there and she let us in.” (R. 122, Trial Tr. at PageID# 1521.) Dawkins testified that she and Defendant worked in the store, assisting customers and completing sales, generally between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. However, as Defendant points out in her brief, Dawkins took responsibility for handling the store’s checking account, obtained credit cards for the store, and kept track of the inventory book. Additionally, Dawkins stated that Defendant frequently altered clothing for the store. While neither of the women were compensated for their work during the relevant time period, Dawkins explained, they reinvested the proceeds from their sales to purchase more inventory for the store. Dawkins also testified that she and Defendant went on multiple buying trips to New York City, Las Vegas, and Chicago.