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State v. Grimes11/22/1999
JUDGMENT: Affirmed
Defendant-appellant Loy Grimes appeals his conviction and sentence from the Guernsey County Court of Common Pleas on one count of murder in violation of R.C. 2903.02 with a firearm specification. Plaintiff-appellee is the State of Ohio.
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE
On June 30, 1997, the Grand Jury of the Guernsey County Court of Common Pleas indicted appellant on one count of aggravated murder in violation of R.C. 2903.01 and one count of murder in violation of R.C. 2903.02. Both of the counts were accompanied by a firearm specification. At his arraignment on July 15, 1997, appellant entered a plea of not guilty to the charges contained in the indictment. Thereafter, a five day jury trial commenced on January 12, 1998. The following evidence was adduced at trial. Appellant Loy Grimes and Sandy Moore had been dating for approximately five years when, in April of 1997, the two ended their relationship. After the break up, appellant moved to West Virginia to live with his mother. Prior to the couple's breakup, appellant had helped Moore purchase a car for $1,500.00. Moore had possession of the vehicle, but the vehicle was titled in appellant's name. At trial, Moore testified that appellant called her at work in May of 1997 and told her that he wanted repaid for the money that he had given her for the car. Moore further testified that appellant told her that he would burn the car if she did not repay him the money.
Appellant, in turn, testified that he called Moore because he wanted his name removed from the vehicle's title since he was concerned that Moore, who had a prior DUI conviction and who did not have a valid driver's license, was driving under the influence of alcohol. On June 1, 1997, appellant drove from West Virginia to Cambridge, Ohio, with a loaded firearm on the seat of his truck. Appellant, who testified that he had purchased the gun for protection against bears, took the gun with him because he did not want his stepfather, who had symptoms of dementia, to get ahold of the same. Upon arriving in Cambridge, appellant went to the restaurant where Moore worked as a waitress. The two briefly discussed the car situation at that time. While appellant was at the restaurant, Moore told appellant that she was going to a benefit at the Eagles after work and that, after the benefit, she would meet appellant at the Deep Cut Tavern at 5: 00 P.M. On her way to the Eagles benefit, Moore saw appellant's truck in the parking lot of the Deep Cut Tavern. She did not, however, stop at the tavern at that time. After Moore failed to appear at the Deep Cut Tavern, appellant went to the Eagles where he ran into Fred Duniver, a friend of Moore's, at approximately 7: 00 P.M. Appellant, who Duniver testified was "raising cain" about a car and was "very angry" about the money Moore owed him for the car, asked Fred Duniver to take him into the Eagles since Fred Duniver was a member. Transcript of Proceedings at 229. After Fred Duniver refused to do so and told appellant that he "was acting like a dickhead", appellant got into his truck and drove back to the Deep Cut Tavern. Transcript of Proceedings at 232. Fred Duniver told Moore and her friends, including Fred Hylton, the victim in this case, of the incident involving appellant. While she was still at the Eagles, Moore received a phone call from appellant. Moore testified that appellant, who knew that Moore had been drinking, told Moore that "she better not drive the car up out of there because he would call the cops on me." Transcript of Proceedings at 347.
Appellant also told Moore that she "shouldn't be messing with him." Transcript of Proceedings, at 347-348. Approximately an hour lat
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