State v. Marshall

Citations

• 2021 Ohio 4434

Syllabus

Manifest weight of the evidence rape Evid.R. 404(B) other acts evidence propensity prejudice admissibility jury instruction ineffective assistance of counsel plain error. Testimony of victim is sufficient, if believed, to support conviction of rape. However, where multiple witnesses corroborate different aspects of witnesses' testimony, appellate court cannot find that convictions were against the manifest weight of the evidence. Further, trial court erred in admitting the testimony of appellant's ex-girlfriend as to his sexual activity where the evidence did not go to modus operandi or plan. Other acts evidence is inadmissible unless it is a) relevant to the nonpropensity purpose for which it is being introduced b) admitted to prove/supporting an issue that is actually in dispute in the case at hand and c) there is evidence that i) the act occurred and ii) the defendant committed the act. Whether the probative value of the other acts evidence outweighs the prejudicial effect of the evidence only becomes an issue if the evidence survives this initial threshold of admissibility. However, the admission of the evidence was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, where the remaining evidence was strong and there was no reason to believe that the evidence was so bizarre or abhorrent that it caused the jury to convict based on their judgment of the defendant's character rather than weighing the evidence. When other acts are properly admitted, trial courts should introduce a limiting instruction to explain to the jury the permitted use of the evidence. However, a trial court is not required to give the instruction, because there may be strategic reasons that appellant has not requested an instruction. Counsel's failure to request limiting instruction is not ineffective assistance of counsel when trial strategy was to question the credibility of the victim and requesting a limiting instruction would have unnecessarily focused the jury on the other acts evidence possibly to appe