State v. Kaufhold

Citations

• 2020 Ohio 3835

Syllabus

The trial court did not err by denying appellant's motion for acquittal where the state presented sufficient evidence to support appellant's conviction for rape and sexual battery indicating appellant either knew or had reasonable cause to believe the victim's ability to resist or consent was substantially impaired as a result of the victim becoming intoxicated by drugs and/or alcohol prior to them having sex. Moreover, the state did not engage in prosecutorial misconduct as alleged by appellant where the state did not fabricate evidence during its closing argument, but instead merely reiterated the trial testimony offered to the jury. The state also did not engage in prosecutorial misconduct by misstating the evidence and misleading the jury as appellant alleged. Additionally, appellant's claims alleging he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel lack merit where the conduct appellant complained of was either a part of his trial counsel's trial strategy and/or was not prejudicial in that it did not impact the outcome of the case given the extensive evidence proving appellant's guilt. Finally, the trial court did not err by sentencing appellant to a mandatory prison term given the fact that any sentence imposed for any rape, regardless of whether force was involved and regardless of the age of the victim, is mandatory by operation of law.