State v. Church

Citations

• 246 N.E.3d 649
• 2024 Ohio 2356

Syllabus

Hearsay confrontation rights sufficiency of the evidence Reagan Tokes indefinite sentencing having weapons while under disability carrying concealed weapons attempted murder felonious assault merger allied offenses conceded error. This consolidated appeal raised challenges to multiple convictions across two criminal cases. The defendant's sufficiency-of-the-evidence argument was disregarded where the argument only went to an offense that had been merged into another offense at sentencing. The admission of police testimony and body-camera recordings that included statements made by a nontestifying victim did not violate the Confrontation Clause or the evidence rules because the statements were nontestimonial they were excited utterances made to secure police assistance to an ongoing emergency. The victim was flagging down police officers to report that the occupants of another car — which was still on the roadway near her — had been chasing her and shooting at her in another part of the city. The prosecutor improperly vouched for the credibility of a state witness during closing argument, but the comment was isolated and did not affect the fairness of the defendant's trial. Another comment during closing argument was not prejudicial when viewed in context. Defense counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to the latter comment. The defendant's convictions for complicity in various offenses were supported by sufficient evidence and were not against the manifest weight of the evidence. The state conceded that the trial court committed plain error when it failed to merge the offenses of felonious assault and attempted murder. Based on the state's request, those convictions were vacated and the case remanded for a limited resentencing. The other case was remanded with instructions for the trial court to correct, nunc pro tunc, certain clerical errors in the sentencing journal entry. Constitutional arguments regarding indefinite sentencing and the Reagan Tokes Law