State v. Johnson

Citations

• 2023 Ohio 1367

Syllabus

Voluntary manslaughter R.C. 2903.03(A) involuntary manslaughter R.C. 2903.04(A) reckless homicide R.C. 2903.041(A) aggravated assault R.C. 2903.12(A)(1) firearm specifications R.C. 2941.141(A) R.C. 2941.145(A) motion for acquittal Crim.R. 29 sufficiency of the evidence manifest weight of the evidence child witness minor competency Evid.R. 601 plain error ineffective assistance of counsel Sixth Amendment allied offenses conceded error Reagan Tokes Law mootness. We vacated the defendant's sentence for voluntary manslaughter based on a conceded error. The state conceded that the trial court erroneously sentenced the defendant on the voluntary-manslaughter count because the state had elected to proceed to sentencing on a different allied offense — involuntary manslaughter. The trial court was required to accept that choice, merge the offenses into a single conviction for involuntary manslaughter and then impose a sentence for that conviction. We remanded the case for resentencing on the correct count. The defendant's substantive challenge to the length of her sentence in light of the purposes of felony sentencing, and her constitutional challenge to the imposition of an indefinite sentence under the Reagan Tokes Law, are moot until she is resentenced. We affirmed the conviction in all other respects. The finding of guilt on the involuntary-manslaughter count was supported by sufficient evidence and was not against the manifest weight of the evidence where — among other things — the defendant had admitted that she pulled the trigger of the gun, forensic tests showed that the gun was less than nine inches from the victim's chest when it discharged and a neighbor testified that he heard the gunshot in the midst of an argument loud enough to be heard from his nearby apartment. There was no plain error in the trial court's finding that the defendant's daughter — who was six years old at the time of trial — was competent to testify as a witness, because any error (if there wa