State v. Breneman

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 4151

Syllabus

The jury did not lose its way in finding appellant guilty of theft of drugs and aggravated possession of drugs his conviction was not against the manifest weight of the evidence. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in failing to grant appellant a new trial due to alleged prejudicial statements by the prosecutor during opening statements. The invited error doctrine bars appellant from complaining about the prosecutor's mention of his three prior felony drug abuse convictions when those statements were consistent with the parties' pretrial stipulation as to his criminal history. Moreover, any prejudice was diminished by the trial court's jury instructions and the fact that the jury properly heard that appellant had previously been sentenced to prison and was on post-release control and further, based on a revised stipulation that appellant had a felony drug abuse conviction. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing a juror to remain on the panel when the record did not substantiate that the juror was sleeping and missed \large or critical portions\ of the trial. Judgment affirmed.