By Dan Trevas | Court News Ohio | July 28, 2022
The Supreme Court of Ohio today confirmed the death sentence of a man who requested capital punishment for killing a North Canton couple whose house he was watching while they vacationed.
The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed a three-judge panel’s decision to sentence George C. Brinkman to death for the 2017 murder of Rogell “Gene” and Roberta “Bobbi” John. Brinkman was a longtime family friend of the Johns, until he shot and beat them to death before fleeing with $140 of their cash. He pleaded guilty to the crimes and waived his right to a jury trial.
At his sentencing hearing , Brinkman apologized and said he deserved nothing less than the death penalty. Writing for the Court, Justice R. Patrick DeWine stated that Brinkman’s guilty pleas and his statements to the panel were significant evidence in his favor. But, the Court explained, his show of remorse at his hearing was undermined by his conduct immediately after the crimes and his untruthful confession about how the crimes took place. Brinkman first told police that he accidentally shot Gene John. Justice DeWine wrote the evidence indicated Brinkman shot the door open to a bedroom in which the couple fled to hide and then intentionally shot Gene.
In affirming the sentence, the Court rejected all but one of Brinkman’s legal arguments, finding the court improperly sentenced him to postrelease control for two lesser crimes he committed during his attack of the couple.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Jennifer Brunner agreed with Brinkman’s argument that the three-judge panel made a procedural error when overruling Brinkman’s attempt to exclude 13 crime-scene photographs from the evidence. Only the presiding judge, not all three judges, ruled on the issue. Justice Brunner wrote that under R.C. 2945.06, all three judges should have decided whether to permit the photographs.
However, both the majority opinion and Justice Brunner’s concurrence determined that the error did not affect the outcome of the case.
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