Opinion ID: 2738168
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Testimony of Defendant’s Sister

Text: Defendant’s sister, Tivia Snipes, testified at trial that Defendant’s daughter April opened the store in 1995 and then moved to California in 1996. She could not recall many details from this time period. Snipes claimed that she ran the shop following April’s move to California until 1998, when the store was robbed, and that Defendant never owned the store. She denied any knowledge that the boutique existed in any form between 1998 and 2005, and she claimed that the store reopened in 2005 and later became Devotice & La’Char when Charlene Dawkins partnered with Defendant’s husband.2 She asserted that her sister, Defendant, would visit the store, but that she did not interact with any customers. Finally, Snipes testified that while she was living in Florida between 1998 and 2007, she performed alteration work and ran the store for Dawkins during her visits to Ohio. She stated on direct examination that she volunteered at the store and then later said she was occasionally paid in cash or check for her work. 2 Snipes could not recall Dawkins’ first name at trial. (Id. at PageID# 2042.) 6 No. 13-3315