State v. Harris

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 4630

Syllabus

Refreshed recollection contrary to law ineffective assistance of counsel admissibility. The trial court acted contrary to law, when it allowed the state to refresh two witnesses' recollections by playing their videotaped statements in open court in front of the jury. Pursuant to Johnson v. Abdullah, 166 Ohio St.3d 427, 2021-Ohio-3304, 187 N.E.3d 463, a trial court is not permitted to make errors of law. However, appellant waived this error by failing to object, subjecting appellate review to the plain error standard. Appellant failed to establish that the outcome of the trial would have been different but for the trial court's error, therefore, he failed to establish plain error. The trial court abused its discretion when it allowed the admission of the picture of a gun that was not used in the crime, located in a codefendant's home. However, as there was overwhelming evidence of appellant's guilt, the admission was harmless as a matter of law. Finally, although arguable whether trial counsel exhibited sound trial strategy by failing to object to the presentation of the codefendants videotaped statements to the jury, the record fails to establish that appellant was prejudiced. Judgment affirmed.