State v. Lynch

Citations

• 2025 Ohio 2769

Syllabus

Competency, sufficient indicia of incompetency; waiver of counsel; competency of a witness; ineffective assistance of counsel; plain error; sufficiency of the evidence; weapons while under disability; child endangering; recklessly; gross abuse of a corpse; manifest weight of the evidence; R.C. 2945.37(A); R.C. 2945.37(G); R.C. 2945.37(B); Crim.R. 52(B); Evid.R. 601; R.C. 2317.01; Crim.R. 29; R.C. 2923.13(A)(2); R.C. 2919.22(A); R.C. 2901.22(C); R.C. 2927.01(B); R.C. 2929.14(B)(1)(g). Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. Appellant appealed his convictions and sentence for two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of having weapons while under disability, endangering children, and gross abuse of a corpse. Appellant argued that the trial court erred when it did not hold a competency hearing on the record, when it did not rule on his motion to waive his right to counsel, by admitting the testimony of an eight-year-old witness whose competency to testify was not established, when it denied his Crim.R. 29 motion, when it failed to calculate and award him jail-time credit, and when it imposed a consecutive sentence for firearm specifications attendant to Counts 2 and 3 because those counts merged as allied offenses. Appellant also argued that his convictions are against the manifest weight of the evidence. None of the arguments had merit, except that the trial court erred by failing to award jail-time credit. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.