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State v. Hamilton4/12/2002
Appellant, Anton D. Hamilton, Jr., appeals from the judgment entered by the Lake County Court of Common Pleas. A jury found appellant guilty of murder with a firearm specification. The court sentenced appellant to fifteen years to life for the murder charge and an additional three years for the firearm specification.
On May 11, 1999, family and friends became concerned about the whereabouts of the victim, Melvin Hamilton, after he did not show up at various events that day, including work. Later that evening, his body was found by his family and friends in the bedroom of his Painesville residence. Melvin Hamilton had been shot three times with his own .38 caliber revolver. The gun was placed under his right hand, apparently in an attempt to make the crime look like a suicide. The victim was appellant's grandfather.
Medical evidence established that the victim died in the late evening hours of May 10, 1999, or in the early morning hours of May 11, 1999.
As police investigated the crime scene, the family and friends of the victim began to gather in the downstairs portion of the victim's house. Anton D. Hamilton, Sr. (appellant's father and the victim's son) went over to Linda Brandon's (appellant's mother) house to find appellant. Mr. Hamilton, Sr. questioned appellant about what had happened to the victim, as the two of them walked back to the victim's house.
Family and friends began to suspect that appellant had murdered the victim. Appellant had been staying with the victim the previous weekend. The victim told appellant he had to be out of the house by May 10, 1999. The night the body was discovered, appellant sat on the couch in a "nonchalant" manner with his arms crossed.
Sgt. Lutha, of the Painesville Police Department, responded to the scene. After being at the scene a short time, he was told by his chief to question appellant, because appellant was believed to be one of the last people to see the victim alive. Sgt. Lutha took appellant down to the police station to question him as a witness. After taking one statement, Sgt. Lutha received a phone call from the scene, where other witnesses were being questioned, and found that there were inconsistencies between appellant's version of the events of May 10, 1999, and those given by witnesses at the scene. He then read appellant his Miranda rights. See Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U.S. 436. Appellant then gave a second statement that was consistent with his first. In both statements appellant denied having anything to do with the victim's death. Appellant's fingerprints were taken, and a gunshot residue test was performed on his hands.
On May 18, 1999, appellant's fingerprints were found to match a latent fingerprint on the murder weapon. An arrest warrant was issued for appellant for murder. Sgt. Lutha called Mr. Hamilton, Sr. and had him bring appellant back to the police station. Appellant was given his previous statement to look over and, after reviewing it, did not want to add or change anything. He was then Mirandized again. Sgt. Lutha informed him that his fingerprints were found on the gun, to which appellant responded after a period of silence, "you might as well take me over." Appellant was arrested and taken to jail.
Appellant raises eight assignments of error. These assignments of error will be addressed out of order. Appellant's first assignment of error is:
"The trial court erred by denying the appellant's motion to suppress statements purportedly made by appellant to police officers."
Appellant moved to suppress the various statements he gave to the police. A suppression hearing was held, and the court overruled the
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