COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, EIGHTH DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA NO. 59471 STATE OF OHIO, : : Plaintiff-Appellee : : JOURNAL ENTRY vs. : and : OPINION IKE SCOTT, : : Defendant-Appellant : : : DATE OF ANNOUNCEMENT OF DECISION : NOVEMBER 27, 1991 CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING : Criminal appeal from : Common Pleas Court : Case No. CR-244,158 JUDGMENT : AFFIRMED. DATE OF JOURNALIZATION : _______________________ APPEARANCES: For plaintiff-appellee: Stephanie Tubbs Jones Cuyahoga County Prosecutor The Justice Center 1200 Ontario Street Cleveland, Ohio 44113 For defendant-appellant: Robert M. Ingersoll Assistant Public Defender The Marion Building 1276 W. 3rd Street Room 307 Cleveland, Ohio 44113-1569 -2- *HAYES, J.: Appellant Ike Scott appeals his conviction of theft with violence specifications. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the conviction. On September 8, 1989, Lisa Tucker, a Higbees employee at Randall Park Mall, saw appellant with boxes of flatware in his hands. She testified that he was looking around to see who was around him. He kneeled down between the flatware cases and then left the store near the television section. Tucker testified that she did not see anything in his hands as he left the store. Tucker contacted store security, because she suspected appellant of stealing flatware. She described appellant as a black male wearing a black suit coat. Brenda Burns, a store detective at Higbees, testified that she went to the store exit near the television section. She saw a black male wearing a black suit jacket heading out towards the parking lot. After leaving the store, the man saw Burns, who was carrying a walkie talkie. He started walking quickly; dropped some flatware; and ran across the street. Burns advised Higbees security to notify the police. North Randall police officer Andrew Getner testified that he responded to radio calls describing two suspects in apparent thefts from Higbees. Getner stated that he apprehended appellant on Warrensville Center Road across from Randall Park Mall. Getner also stated that appellant had a dark jacket over his -3- shoulder, and that there was a cardboard carton of silverware inside the jacket. Appellant was charged with theft and had a jury trial. He was found guilty, and brought this timely appeal. Appellant's sole assignment of error reads as follows; IKE SCOTT HAS BEEN DENIED HIS FREEDOM WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF LAW BY HIS CONVICTION FOR THEFT, WHICH WAS NOT SUPPORTED BY SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO PROVE HIS GUILT BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. The Ohio Supreme Court recently set forth the legal standard for sufficiency of evidence as follows: An appellate court's function when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, would convince the average mind of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Jenks (1991), 61 Ohio St. 3d 259, paragraph two of the syllabus. Moreover, the weight of the evidence and the credibility of witnesses are primarily for the trier of facts. State v. DeHass (1967), 10 Ohio St. 2d 230, paragraph one of the syllabus. R.C. 2913.02 provides in pertinent part as follows: (A) No person, with purpose to deprive the owner of property or services, shall knowingly obtain or exert control over either the property or services. * * * (2) Beyond the scope of the express or implied consent of the owner or -4- person authorized to give consent . . . In this case, the jury could have reasonably found beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant knowingly took the flatware without authority and without intending to return it. Lisa Tucker testified that she saw appellant with the flatware in his hands; that appellant looked around as if to see if he was being watched; that he leaned down between the display cases; and left the store with nothing in his hands. The store detective testified that appellant dropped one package of flatware when he saw that she was following him. A North Randall police officer testified that he found another package of flatware in appellant's jacket when he stopped appellant. Appellant's assignment of error is overruled. Affirmed. -5- It is ordered that appellee recover of appellant its costs herein taxed. The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal. It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the Common Pleas Court to carry this judgment into execution. The defendant's conviction having been affirmed, any bail pending appeal is terminated. Case remanded to the trial court for execution of sentence. A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. ANN McMANAMON, P.J., and JAMES D. SWEENEY, J., CONCUR. *JERRY L. HAYES JUDGE (*SITTING BY ASSIGNMENT: Judge Jerry L. Hayes, Domestic Relations Court of Portage County.) N.B. This entry is made pursuant to the third sentence of Rule 22(D), Ohio Rules of Appellate Procedure. This is an announcement of decision (see Rule 26). Ten (10) days from the date hereof this document will be stamped to indicate journalization, at which time it will become the judgment and order of the court and time period for review will begin to run. .