State v. Humphreys

Citations

• 2026 Ohio 373

Syllabus

Appellant's statutory and constitutional rights to a speedy trial were not violated. The trial court did not commit plain error by failing to remove two jurors for cause on grounds of bias, and appellant's trial counsel did not provide ineffective assistance by failing to challenge the jurors in question. Appellant's convictions for attempted rape, kidnapping, and strangulation were supported by sufficient evidence and were not against the manifest weight of the evidence. The trial court violated Evid.R. 404(B) by allowing the State to present other-acts evidence of appellant's prior juvenile adjudication for attempted rape. That error was harmless as to appellant's convictions for kidnapping and strangulation, but not as to appellant's attempted rape conviction. Because the other-acts evidence error was reversible error as to appellant's attempted rape conviction, the sexually violent predator specification attached to that conviction must be reversed. The issue of whether appellant was guilty of the sexual motivation specification attached to his kidnapping offense should have been determined by the jury as opposed to the trial court; however, that error was invited by appellant and did not amount to plain error. The sexually violent predator specification attached to appellant's kidnapping offense was supported by sufficient evidence and was not based on inadmissible hearsay. Appellant's claim that the trial court erred by failing to merge his attempted rape and kidnapping convictions at sentencing is moot by virtue of the attempted rape conviction being reversed. Appellant's claim that he was denied a fair trial due to the cumulative error committed during his trial lacks merit. Judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part.